LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois State women's golf team ran away with the team title at the Loyola Parkinson Family Invitational, winning the tournament by 13 strokes, as this seasons' squad wins its second tournament through just three weekends of competition in the fall.
The 1998-99 squad previously had the quickest road to two victories, when it took that team five tournaments. The win is also the sixth career win for head coach Breanne Hall in her seventh season with the program.
ISU's tournament score of 878 (14 shots over par) is the seventh-lowest tournament score in program history, as all seven of the best team tournament totals – and 18 of the lowest 19– have come since Hall took over the program.
The Redbirds' 878 distanced themselves from the field by 13 strokes, as Butler finished second with a three-round score of 891. Cal Baptist (895), Bowling Green (902), Dayton (904), St. Thomas (908), South Dakota (912), Ball State (913), Omaha (916), UIC (921), Utah Tech (926), Loyola Chicago (931), and Creighton (953) rounded out the 13 schools in the tournament field.
ISU gets a weekend off before closing out the 2024-25 fall season by traveling to the Clash at Boulder Creek starting on Sunday, October 20 in Boulder City, Nevada.
The two lowest scores on the day for ISU came from freshmen, as Elise Fennell shot a career-low-tying 71 on the final round and placed in a tie for third place individually with a 217 which ties her personal-best and is tied for the second-lowest tournament score by a freshman in the history of the program. Alex Sparrow also finished under-par for the final round with a one-under 71, as the scores by the pair are tied for the sixth-lowest single-round score by a freshman in ISU women's golf history.
Fennell, who finished in a three-way tie for third place, opened her day with a birdie on her first hole, the par-five 18th hole, and was never at even par again on the day. After four pars, she added a second birdie on the par-four fifth hole, which was answered with a bogey. She also had birdies on the 11th and 14th holes, and each time countered the under-par score with a bogey, as she carded the second under-par score of her collegiate career in eight rounds as a Redbird.
Sparrow tied for 18th during the tournament, as her final-round score propelled her ahead 10 spots individually. Starting on the par-five 18th hole, Sparrow opened her day with eight consecutive pars before she scored an eagle on the par-five eighth hole – and was the only player over the three rounds of the tournament to card an eagle on that hole. After two more pars a birdie on the par-three 11th hole pushed her to three shots under par, as she closed with a birdie, two pars, and three bogeys to finish with the career-low one-under final score.
Newcomer Morgan Jones finished with a two-over final round 74, and her 54-hole total of 218 ended tied for fifth in the individual field. Jones – who opened play on the course's first hole – started with 10 consecutive pars. She followed with three bogeys in the next seven holes, before closing her tournament with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole.
Freshman Jessica Jolly carded a final-round 76 (+4) for her lowest round of the tournament. Through her first nine holes she had six pars and three bogeys; however, on her 10th and 11th holes of the day she carded a birdie to drop to one shot over par. She closed with five more pars and two over-par scores to end the day with the four-over final score, which saw her tie for 39th.
Jinyoung Yun shot a final-round 77, and her three-round score of 218 was tied for fifth-best in the field individually. She struggled at the onset of the round and was four shots over par through the first six holes; however, answered back strong with two birdies, eight pars and two over-par scores over her last dozen holes to record the top-10 finish.
Lory Paradis tied for 11th playing as the individual for the Redbirds, as she had a pair of birdies, along with 11 pars for her final round, and she finished with a final three-round score of 223.
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