Sept. 21, 2005
Normal, Ill. -
The competition is rising, as the Illinois State women's golf team heads to Bloomington, Ind. for the Lady Northern Invitational, their third tournament in as many weeks. Heading into this invitational, the `Birds have had six wins against Big Ten teams in the previous two tournaments and the 12-team field they'll be facing contains 10 of the 11 Big Ten teams.
"The greatest thing about our fall schedule is the great fields of competition we will be facing," said Head Coach Ray Kralis. "The toughest part is being patient because we are so close to putting it all together and breaking out. The last part of the tournament at Michigan State really proved that."
Heading to Indiana for the `Birds this week are seniors Samantha Richdale and Ashlie Rose, juniors Hilary Anderson and Chelsea Bach, freshman Kaitlin Troop and junior-transfer Olivia Campos. Rounding out the line-up is freshman Marci Hill, playing her first collegiate tournament at the Lady Northern as an individual participant. Kralis is confident with his line-up.
"Our line-up is getting stronger each week," said Kralis. "With Marci playing as an individual, she has the chance to really show her team what she is capable of. We have that much talent and experience that we can just blow the field away."
The 12-team field includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Purdue, Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. With 10 Big Ten teams in the tournament, Kralis has strategy on his mind.
"What we need in this tournament is a combination of the great low round we played at Michigan State and the consistent solid play we had at Wisconsin," said Kralis. "In the past two tournaments, mentally, we did great things--controlling our emotions and keeping confidence high--to come back strong. We expect to do that this weekend because we've seen teams like this before and they are high powered teams we can take."
The first round of the competition is set to begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the par 72 Indiana University Championship Golf Course in Bloomington, Ind.
