March 29, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State women's golf team is set to compete in the Saluki Invitational, Sunday-Monday, March 30-31. The 36-hole, 14-team event is hosted by Southern Illinois and will take place at the Crab Orchard Golf Club. The Redbirds took third at last year's Saluki Invitational and are coming off a fourth-place finish at the Gainesville Shootout III (March 13-15).
Illinois State, who has finished each of its last three events in the top-half of the field, is seeking its first win of the season.
"As a team, we are really looking forward to this event," head coach Darby Sligh said. "The format mirrors our conference championship so to have an opportunity to play against such a tough field will definitely help us down the stretch. "
The Redbirds are led by sophomores Stacey Miller and Marisa Milligan. Miller, a Bloomington, Ill. native, leads ISU in rounds played and is second on the team in scoring with a 77.2 per-round scoring average. Milligan, the newest member of the Illinois State squad, is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes and yields a 74.5 per-round scoring average.
"I am looking for breakthrough performances from everyone competing this weekend," said Sligh. "We have made a point of doing whatever it takes to get it done, and with the way everyone has been playing, I am excited to see what happens."
Originally, the event was scheduled to be played at Hickory Ridge Golf Club, but due to recent flooding in southern Illinois, the event has been moved to Crab Orchard Golf Club, located about 15 minutes east of Carbondale, Ill. Tee times have yet to be announced.
