Fighting gusty winds throughout the day, the Illinois State womens golf team was able to overcome mother nature and post a 311 in round one of the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Womens Golf Championship in Carbondale, Ill., and take a nine shot lead over host Southern Illinois.
All six Redbird golfers are in the top 12 individually. Sophomore Samantha Richdale and freshman Chelsea Bach led the way for the Birds and are tied for third place overall firing a pair of 77s. Katie Laehn is tied in fifth after putting up a 78. Albiona Zhubi tied for eighth with a 78, while Hilary Anderson and Ashlie Rose both shot 81 and are tied in 12th place. Only 11 golfers posted scores of 80 or lower.
Head coach
Ray Kralis is pleased with how his team performed in round one.
It was extremely windy today, but we are off to a good start, Kralis said. The thing that I am most pleased with is the team play. Our depth is great and the consistency is still there from the last few tournaments and that was a major factor for us today.
Following the Birds and Southern Illinois in team scoring were Wichita State, Northern Iowa, Bradley, SMS, Creighton and Evansville. Kralis knows his team can not afford a lapse in concentration like it had last week and is preparing his team for two more tough rounds of golf.
We know this is just one round and we have learned from our experiences last week, Kralis said. We can not get caught up in where we stack up. We must play to our potential and keep scores in the back of our minds. If we stay focused and keep the same mindset we had today, we can go out and extend this lead.
Second round action from the 2004 MVC Womens Golf Championship will continue Monday with the first groups teeing off at 8:30 a.m. (CST). Live scoring and results can be found at www.Golfstatresults.com.
