Sept. 23, 2008
Final Stats
LAWRENCE, Kan. -
With her first top-10 finish of the season, junior Stacey Miller led the Illinois State women's golf team to a third-place finish at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational at the Alvamar Public Golf Course Tuesday afternoon. The Redbirds shot a final-round 18-hole score of 313, completing a final three-round total of 930. ISU has finished in the top-five at both of their fall tournaments.
After the first day of play, the Redbirds were in second place with a score of 617. However, Nebraska (926) gained momentum during the final round to steal the second-place spot from the Redbirds. The Cornhuskers ended the tournament in a tie for first-place with Oral Roberts, but were outlasted in a two-hole playoff.
Although the `Birds placed third-out-of-16 teams head coach Darby Sligh still felt that her team wasted an opportunity to win the tournament.
"We had a solid start to the tournament, but we had a disappointing day since we put ourselves in contention for first-place and did not pull through," said Sligh. We started on the right foot, but needed someone to step up and we did not have that today. We had little mistakes that you can't have and expect to win a golf tournament, but we are excited for the Hawkeye Invitational and we will use this tournament to prepare for Iowa."
Stacey Miller finished the tournament tied for seventh place with a 16-over-par 232 (75-80-77). Sophomore Britt Knutson ended the day in 13th place with a 233 (77-75-81), carding her first top-15 finish of the season. Senior Marci Hill fired a 19-over-par 235 (74-84-77) which placed her in a tie for 17th place. Sophomore Terra Miller stayed strong during the second-day of play, carding a 54-hole total of 237 (81-78-78), was good enough for a 24th place tie overall. Junior Laura Harris completed the tournament in a tie for 37th place shooting a 241 (76-82-83).
Junior Christine Larson finished just shy of the top-50 scores. Larson, who competed individually, carded a 54-hole 248 (83-85-80) to finish in a tie for 58th place.
ISU finished higher in the tournament than any other fellow Missouri Valley Conference teams. Wichita State finished in 10th place, while Creighton came in at 13th place, and Northern Iowa completed the 54-holes in 14th place.
The Redbirds will be back in action Oct. 4-5 at the Hawkeye Invitational. The tournament will be hosted by Iowa on the Finkbine Golf Course.
