With a two-round score of 151 (76,75), Illinois State junior Hilary Anderson is tied for 13th place individually, leading the Redbirds to fifth place after the first day of the 12-team 2005 Badger Women's Golf Invitational in Madison, Wis.
Head coach Ray Kralis is pleased with Anderson's performance after the first two rounds.
"Hilary gave strong solid play all day," said Kralis. "She carried herself maturely, as a veteran would, and really showed her ability at this level."
Anderson sits only 11 shots behind the leader Onnarin Sattayabanphot of Purdue.
Following Anderson for the Redbirds is Ashlie Rose, who is tied for 18th with a two-round total of 152 (76,76). Samantha Richdale is tied for 27th place with a 153 (79,74), Chelsea Bach tied for 39 with a 157 (76,81) and Kaitlin Troop is in a tie for 67th place with a 169 (86,83).
Kralis is proud of the way his team played today.
"Overall, I'm proud of the ladies--we played solid," said Kralis. "It was a hard golf course to walk and it was extremely hot, and I was very pleased with how everyone hung in there and kept focused."
After two rounds, Purdue is leading the tournament with a total of 582. Texas A&M sits in second with a 590 and New Mexico State and Missouri are tied for third with a 599. Behind the `Bird's two-round total of 613 (307,306) is Oklahoma with a 617, in seventh is Iowa State University with a 619 and tied for eighth is Kansas State and Wisconsin with a 620.
Following 10th place Arkansas-Little Rock is Texas Christian and Minnesota.
After today's finish, Kralis is ready to take on the season.
"With what we did today, I feel good about the year ahead," said Kralis. "The leader board and the teams show that we're doing great, but I have high expectations for this team. Tomorrow we will go out and finish with a strong round to get ready to take on Michigan, but I guess we should take one day at a time."
Women's golf action resumes for the third and final round Monday, Sept.12 at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start at the University Ridge Golf Course. ¬
