NORMAL, Ill. – Behind strong opening scores of 297 in both the first and second rounds, the Illinois State women's golf team heads into the second day of the 2026 Redbird Invitational in third place overall.
ISU junior Alex Sparrow is the team's leader through 36 holes, and at even par overall with 144, and is tied for fourth, while freshman Cora Hirz and senior Reagan Kennedy are tied for 29th.
St. Thomas leads the team field after two rounds with a 580, while Augusta's 589 is five strokes ahead of Illinois State's 594. Denver (596), Butler (600), Northern Illinois (600), Eastern Kentucky (602), South Dakota (605), Indiana State (606), South Dakota State (611), Illinois Wesleyan (625), Northern Iowa (628), and Evansville (656) close out the 13 schools in the tournament field.
Sparrow had rounds of 70 (-2) and 74 (+2), and her 144 is tied for fourth, just four strokes behind the individual leader. She had three birdies in the first round with 14 pars, while adding two birdies and a dozen pars in the second round. Her 26 pars over the first day are tied for the fourth-most in the tournament, while her par-four scoring average of 3.95 (-1 aggregate score) is tied for the third-lowest.
Hirz and Kennedy each carded a 152, Hirz coming from rounds of 79 (+7) and 73 (+1), and Kennedy after rounds of 77 (+5) and 75 (+3). Hirz had two birdies and nine pars in the first round and had six birdies and six more pars in the second round. Her eight birdies on the day are tied for the most in the tournament. Kennedy had a birdie in both the first and second rounds, along with 11 pars in the first round and 13 more in the second.
First-year Redbirds Cynthia Lang and Xuan (Hazel) Gao each had a 36-hole score of 153, Lang using rounds of 72 and 81, and Gao of 78 and 75, as each are tied for 36th. Lang had 16 pars, one birdie, and one bogey in the first round, finishing with an even-par 72, before following that with a birdie and 10 pars for a nine-over 81. Gao had a birdie and 10 pars on the first round, and two birdies and 11 pars on the second round. Lang's 26 pars in the tournament is tied for the fourth-most in the field.
The team's three individual's Reagan Braker, Claudia Weston, and Gianna White have 36-hole scores of 166, 168, and 171. Braker had rounds of 82 and 84 to tie for 69th, Weston rounds of 80 and 88 to tie for 72nd, and White is in 75th with rounds of 84 and 87. Weston's eagle in the first round is one of nine eagles in the tournament.
ISU will tee off alongside St. Thomas and Augusta on Monday morning, starting at 8:30 a.m.
