Senior captain Jill Rachford will lead the Illinois State womens golf team into battle this weekend as the Redbirds kickoff their regular season with the Redbird Fall Classic, at the ISU golf course, September 8 and 9.
Rachford will be the top-returning player for the Redbirds this year. Last year, she competed in all nine tournaments en route to a career-best stroke average of 82.6. Rachford also finished the season off with a solid fifth-place showing at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
Second-year head coach
Ray Kralis feels very optimistic about the season opener and the Redbirds regular season.
We have some talented incoming freshman along with our solid returning class that will make us a deeper team this year, said Kralis.
Wisconsin natives Ashlee Johnson (Wisconsin Rapids) and Katie Laehn (Wausau) have flashed some signs of greatness as freshmen this summer during team qualifying rounds. Both of them are making an instant impact by vying for the top spot on the team.
We will be much more competitive with the incoming freshman we have this year, said Kralis.
The tournament consists of 54 holes of play. The tournament will start with 36 holes on Saturday and finish with 18 holes Sunday. The course is approximately 5,907 yards with a par of 72.
Schools participating in this years 15-team tournament are Depauw, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Illinois Wesleyan, Loyola, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Oral Roberts, Quincy, Southern Illinois, SW Missouri State, Toledo, Western Illinois and defending champion Bradley.
The Redbirds finished fifth in the Redbird Classic last year and are looking for bigger
and better things this year.
We will be much more competitive, said Kralis. We look forward to defending our home turf.
