LAKE WORTH, Fla. – A strong start by the Illinois State Redbirds to open the final round at The Atlantic Invitational was unable to be maintained, as the squad finished fifth at ISU's opening spring 2024 event.
ISU carded a final-round 309, finishing with a 54-hole score of 913. Arkansas State ran away with the team title, finishing with a three-round 862 while Quinnipiac (897), Marshall (899), and Keiser (909) all finished ahead of the Redbirds. Eastern Michigan (921) and Lehigh (932) closed out the four teams in the field.
Jinyoung Yun led the Redbirds on the final day with a four-over 75. She started strong, as her front nine consisted of a birdie and nine pars; however, she carded back-to-back bogeys to open her back nine. After six straight pars she stumbled at the finish with a triple-bogey on the 18th hole, pushing her to the four-over score. She was the top Redbird finisher at the event, placing 11th overall.
Michaela Kverkova had her best score of the tournament in the final round with a five-over 76. Like Yun, her front nine was spotless with eight pars and a birdie, and she remained at one under par through the first five holes of the back nine; however, two bogeys and a quadruple bogey among her last four holes saw her finish with a five-over-par round score and tied for 24th overall in the field.
Ali Schrock finished with a seven-over 78 on her final round, as she was one under par through her first six holes with two birdies, three pars and a bogey; however, she was six over par on her next six holes, and despite a birdie on her back nine finished five over par on the back half of the course, finishing tied for 13th individually in the tournament.
Playing as an individual, Vinisha Gunaseelan also carded a seven-over 78 on the final round, as she had two birdies, nine pars and seven over-par scores for her 78.
Dani Grace Schrock finished 38th overall in the tournament, as she closed her tournament with a nine-over 80, as she had a birdie, 10 pars, and seven over-par scores over her final 18 holes. Avalon Woodward finished 20th overall, using a birdie, nine pars and eight over-par scores to conclude the tournament with an 81.
The Redbirds will get a weekend off before returning to action on Friday, February 23 when the team travels to Rio Verde, Arizona, to compete in the three-day Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational, hosted at the Rio Verde Country Club.
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