Illinois State sophomore Albiona Zhubi, Bradleys Jil Swenson and Northern Iowas Jenny Heinz all shot the days low round of 76 as Bradley came away with the Missouri Valley Conference womens golf championship Wednesday at University Golf Course. Northern Iowa placed second, followed by Wichita State and Illinois State in third and fourth, respectively. Northern Iowa's coach Kevin Kane was named Valley Coach of the Year.
Bradleys Kelly Dillon earned medalist honors with a three-day total of 224. Bradley coach Bo Ryan led the Braves to their second womens golf championship in school history and the schools first womens team ever to earn a bid to an NCAA Championship.
Illinois State entered the final day of competition tied with Wichita State for third, but the Shockers pulled away by three strokes, leaving the Birds in fourth as Illinois State shot a 317, its lowest round of the semester.
Zhubi, who placed 14th overall, led the way with a round low 76, followed by senior Jill Rachford and freshman Katie Laehn who both shot 79, putting them in a tie with SIUs Jennifer Shutt for 10th-place overall.
I really had nothing to lose today and had a lot more confidence in myself and settled in my swing, Zhubi said. We wanted to take third and go out there and prove to ourselves that we can play the way we know how to play.
Freshman Ashlee Johnson turned in a solid performance for the Birds with a round of 83 while Sara Prack carded an 84 and Kaila Fuller tallied 89.
Obviously it would have been nice to hold on to the third-place spot instead of letting Wichita State get us, but hats off to them for having the low round of the day, Redbird coach
Ray Kralis said. There were great individual efforts. They went out and those teams won it, it just wasnt given to them. It was great golf.
