Freshman Hilary Anderson shot an even-par 72 to help place the Illinois State womens golf team atop the leaderboard after the first round of the Illini Spring Classic in Urbana, Ill. The Redbirds shot a 299 and sit eight strokes ahead of the second place schools.
Andersons 72 was the best score of the day and places her first overall individually. She was the only golfer in the 63-player field to shoot par and owns a one-stroke lead over Grand Valley States Enid Gage.
Samantha Richdale and Chelsea Bach shot a pair of 75s for the Redbirds and are tied for sixth place overall. Ashlie Rose carded a 77, good for a tie for 16th and Katie Laehn is tied in 20th with a 78.
Head coach
Ray Kralis was pleased with the solid play from the whole team.
What is most encouraging is that we played solid all the way through the lineup, Kralis said. This is just what I was looking for. All of the scores were solid and to be able to throw out a 78 is great.
Following the Birds in second place are Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Toledo. Bradley and Grand Valley State are tied for fifth, followed by Northern Illinois, Ball State, Eastern Illinois, De Pauw, Indianapolis and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Kralis looks forward to getting back out on the course tomorrow.
Im anxious to get back out there and make another statement, Kralis said. By no means are we going to play conservative. I want to stretch the lead and build more momentum for the Valley Championship next weekend.
The second and final round of the 36-hole Illini Spring Classic begins on Saturday, with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
