Katie Laehns second place finish helped lead the Illinois State womens golf team to a fifth place finish at the Mary Fossum Invitational.
Laehn had another great finish after a first place finish at last weekends Redbird Classic. She finished the three-round tournament with 74,74,78 for a total of 226, leaving her in a tie for a second place.
Head coach
Ray Kralis is very pleased with how Laehn performed this weekend.
Katie came out and played solid start to finish, said Kralis. She continued her strong play from last weekend and stepped up to play solid against some of the top teams in the region.
Samantha Richdale tied for 16th place with a total of 233 (78,75,80). Chelsea Bach stepped up in the third round to finish with 234 (82,79,73) in a tie for 22nd. Ashlee Johnson shot a 240 (80,77,83) to finish in a tie for 40th and Kaila Fuller finished tied for 65th place with a total of 249 (84,80.85).
The Birds finished the 14-team tournament with a team total of 933 (314,305,314) in fifth place only 14 strokes behind the invitational winner Michigan (306,303,310=919).
Kralis feels the Birds played an overall good tournament.
We did not have the first round that I had hoped for, but as a team we stayed focused and had a came back in the next two rounds, said Kralis. We competed well with all the top teams and finished as strong as we could.
Following Michigan in second place was Michigan States a-team, with Northwestern in third and University of Wisconsin in fourth. Finishing behind the Redbirds were Princeton, Kent State, Ferris State, Michigan States b-team, Western Michigan, Indiana, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Xavier and Grand Valley State.
Kralis feels the Birds improved from last years 10th place finish and this is a experience that will help in future tournaments.
We will be competing in a tournaments similar to this one all year, (against some of the top teams) and I think that we will be able to build from this experience to go out and play strong, added Kralis.
The Redbirds return to play on October 4-5, as they travel to Franklin, IN to play in the Shootout at the Legends tournament held at The Legends of Indiana Golf Club.
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