By Roy J. Akers www.skyviewsports.net
The NCAA women’s tournaments are being held this weekend. The MSU Spartans have opened up a large weekend against B1G foes. The MAC women tee off today through Tuesday for their three-day season-ending championship. (They follow the B1G Below).
Spartans Extend Lead at Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships
Katie Lu Fires 4-Under Par 68 to Move Atop Individual Lead
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s women’s golf team shot a 5-under par 283 in the second round and continued to lead the Big Ten Championships, being held at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md., just outside of Baltimore.
The three-round, 54-hole event concludes on Sunday, April 21, at Bulle Rock Golf Course (par 71, 6,045 yards).
Michigan State entered the second round with an 8-shot lead on the field and posted the best team round of the day on Saturday to extend its lead to 11 shots.
The Spartans will enter Sunday’s third and final round at 14-under par 562, 11 shots ahead of second-place Indiana (3-under par 573. Michigan is in third place (1-under par 575), with Purdue in fourth place (5-over par 581) and Northwestern rounds out the top-five teams (6-over par 582).
Michigan State reached 10-under par at one point late in the first round before closing the first day of play at 9-under par 279. Northwestern is in second place at 1-under par 287, with Michigan and Indiana tied for third place at even-par 288 and Purdue rounds out the top-five teams at 4-over par 292.
Junior Katie Lu, who was tied for fourth place at 2-under 70 after the first round, fired a 4-under 68 on Saturday and moved into a tie first place at 6-under par 138. Lu finished her second round with six birdies, including four on the back nine and on four of the last five holes.
Sophomore Paula Balanzategui, who led the Spartans on Friday and was tied for the individual lead with a career-best 5-under par 67, shot an even-par 72 and is tied for third place at 5-under par 139.
Senior Leila Raines and graduate Valentina Rossi, who were tied for sixth place at 1-under par 71 after the first round, completed the second round with identical scores of even-par 72 and are tied for seventh place at 1-under par 143.
Junior Brooke Biermann had the team’s second-best round of the day, firing a 1-under par 71, connecting on five birdies in the second round. She is now tied for 19th place at 2-over par 146.
Junior Shannon Kennedy, who shot a 6-over par 78 on Friday, bounced back with an even-par 72 on Saturday and is tied for 42nd place at 6-over par 150.
The Spartans tee off at 9:48 a.m. on Sunday, playing alongside Indiana and Michigan
Caley McGinty Named Big Ten Golfer of the Week
Ohio State graduate student won medalist honors at Therese Hession Buckeye Invite
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Ohio State graduate student Caley McGinty has been named Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Week for tournaments played during the week of April 11 – April 17, 2024, the final week of play before the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships presented by Old National Bank.
Golfers of the Week
Caley McGinty, Ohio State
Graduate Student – Bristol, England – Oasis Academy Brislington – Strategic Communications
- Won the 2024 Therese Hession Buckeye Invite hosted at the Ohio State University Golf Club Scarlet Course
- Fired three rounds under par (71-68-71=210) to finish at 6-under, four strokes ahead of her closest competition
- Ranked third in the field with 11 birdies, and fifth with 38 pars, while leading all competitors in Par-5 scoring (-5)
- Helped lead the Buckeyes to a 20-shot victory at their home event, in a field featuring 11 Big Ten teams
- Last Ohio State Golfer of the Week: Kary Hollenbaugh (2/21/24)
2023-24 Big Ten Women’s Golfers of the Week
Sept. 6: Isabella McCauley, So., MINN
Sept. 13: Michaela Vavrova, Sr., NEB
Sept. 20: Chloe Johnson, So., IND | Katie Lu, Jr., MSU
Sept. 27: Katie Lu, Jr., MSU
Oct. 4: Lauryn Nguyen, Jr., NU
Oct. 11: Kelli Ann Strand, So., NEB
Oct. 18: Kailie Vongsaga, Gr., OSU
Oct. 26: Lauryn Nguyen, Jr., NU
Nov. 1: Isabel Sy, Sr., ILL
Feb. 7: Isabella McCauley, So., MIN | Kelli Ann Strand, So., NEB
Feb. 15: Michelle Cox, Jr., PSU
Feb. 21: Kary Hollenbaugh, So., OSU
MAC Golf Tournament
2024 MAC Women’s Golf Championships Begins Sunday!
GROVE CITY, Ohio – The 2024Mid-American Conference Women’s Golf Championships officially begin on Sunday morning, April 21. All 10 conference teams are set to compete for the title hosted by Ohio University at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City. First round tee times begin at 9:30 AM ET, and all three days of competition will be available on ESPN+. Full information on this year’s championship can be found here.
AKRON
The Akron Zips women’s golf team is set to compete for the 2024 Mid-American Conference Women’s Golf Championships on Sunday through Tuesday, April 21-23 hosted by Ohio at Pinnacle Club in Grove City, Ohio. The Zips’ starting lineup includes seniors Abbi Fleiner (Reno, Nev.) and Jessica Hahn (Canton, Ohio) followed by junior Daphne van Son (Vlijmen, Netherlands) and sophomores Avery Wright (Jackson, Ohio) and Hridhika Vora (Mumbai, Maharashtra) as well as freshman Katrin Horn Danielsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland).
BALL STATE
Set to represent the Cardinals at the championship meet are senior Kiah Parrott, junior Sabrina Langerak, sophomores Jasmine Driscoll, Sarah Gallagher and Madelin Boyd, along with freshman JJ Gregston. Sophomore Jasmine Driscoll and senior Kiah Parrott currently own the lowest round of the season for the Cardinals, with Driscoll firing a 68 in the final round of the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 4-5) and Parrott doing the same in the final round of the Diamante Intercollegiate (Oct. 22-24). The Cardinals are also on pace to break the program’s single season team scoring average of 306.59 set by the 2020-21 squad. Ball State enters the 2024 MAC Championships with a scoring average of 302.61, which is alomst four strokes ahead of the previous mark.
BOWLING GREEN
Kayla Davis, Makenna Jones, Ava O’Sullivan, Olivia Steen and Sammie Dolce will be representing Bowling Green at this year’s MAC Women’s Golf Championship. BGSU’s fourth-place finish last year in the MAC Championship in 2022 was the program’s best finish in the event. In last year’s MAC Championship, Kayla Davis (70-72-77-219, +3) led all individuals through two rounds at -2 but shot a 77 in the final round to finished tied for second. It was the best individual finish by a Falcon since Patricia Holt (+11) also came in second in the 2015 Championship. Davis also broke her own record for lowest score in a MAC Championship.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The Chippewas will be represented this weekend byAshley Goh, Rachel Kauflin, Rachel Niskanen, Mackenzie Baustad, Lexi Schulman, and Alexis McMurray (alternate). The Chippewas finished third last season, their best placing in the MAC Championship since the program’s resurrection in 2014-15. CMU senior Ashley Goh finished fourth last season, closing with a program-record 4-under par 68 for a 221 total. Goh has finished in the top 10 in each of the past two seasons.
EASTERN MICHIGAN
The Eagles enter the tournament with the 12th-lowest four-player team scoring average in program history at 310.0. Eastern Michigan has two top-five finishes this season, including a fourth-place showing most recently at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, March 17-19. Competing for EMU will be Watson, Apichonlati, Kim, junior Alyssa DiMarcantonio (Maple, Ontario-Tommy Douglas Secondary School), and senior Sophia Wygonik (Westland, Mich./Livonia Franklin). Freshman Gabriella Tapp (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) will also travel as an alternate for the tournament. Senior Anna Watson (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) individually leads the team with an average of 75.82. Freshman Riley Kim (Aldie, Va./Lightridge) follows with a 77.67 season average, while senior Natai Apichonlati (Bangkok, Thailand/The Regent’s International School) has put together a solid campaign of her own, scoring an average of 78.43 this year.
KENT STATE
The Kent State women’s golf team will begin its quest for a 25th-straight Mid-American Conference Championship on Sunday. Kent State has finished the season strong, including a fourth-place finish at the Jackrabbit Invitational a month ago and a sixth-place result last weekend at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Veronika Kedronova earned her third MAC Golfer of the Week award after scoring a one-over 217 to tie for fourth individually in Columbus.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Jasmine Ly (Windsor, Ontario, Can./ Holy Names High School) has led the Huskies with 73.28 strokes per round as she has seen action in nine tournaments during the 2023-24 season. Sydney Naro (Toronto, Ontario, Can./ Hills International Golf Academy) averages 75.56 strokes per round, having seen action in nine tournaments for the Huskies. Emily Romancew (Pierrefonds, Quebec, Can./ Ecole Secondaire Des Sources) recorded a season-low 69 at the Pat Bradley Invitational. Romancew won the NAU Red Rocks Invitational in March, taking first as she went three under par to win. Caroline Kent (Frisco, Texas/ iUniversity Prep) had her first top-10 finish this season at the NAU Red Rocks Invitational before following that with a top-5 finish at the Pinetree Invitational. Kent has a season-low round of 70 at the EKU Colonel Classic as she has seen action in eight tournaments for the Huskies.
OHIO
Ohio enters the tournament coming off of the team’s best finish of the season. At the Lady Jaguar Invitational, the Bobcats placed in a tie for second, just one stroke behind the tournament winners and fellow MAC competitors, Ball State. Sophomore Mackenzie McRee (Tucson, Ariz.), freshman Zoe Luebbers (Cincinnati, Ohio), freshman Morgan Rodgers (Centerville, Ohio), junior Sydney Longstreth (Carmel, Ind.), and senior Mariana Vega-Rivera (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) will tee off for Ohio on Sunday.
TOLEDO
Junior Yedam Lee is leading the Rockets with a 76.6 stroke average with seniors Angel Hii (76.9) and Macy Hanus (77.1) ranking second and third, respectively. Lee and fifth-year senior Amelia Lee led Toledo at last year’s MAC Championships by tying for 19th place. Hii tied for 10th place at the 2021 MAC Championships when she was a freshman for the best finish by a Rocket on the current roster. The Rockets have finished as the runner-up in five of the last 10 MAC Championships and placed in the top four in seven of those years. Toledo’s all-time showings in the event have included five second-place, seven third-place, five fourth-place four fifth-place and two sixth-place finishes.
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan fields a lineup of Alissa Fish, Meghan Vallabhaneni, Natalie Samdal, Jenna Hayes and Macy Beeson. For Beeson, it will be her first MAC Championship performance. Last year, it was the then freshman Vallabhaneni that was the top finisher for the Broncos. She finished just one stroke out of the top 10 after shooting a 227 (+11). Fish, Samdal and Hayes also competed last year for Western Michigan, helping the team finish in sixth place while hosting the tournament. The Broncos have had a solid second half of their season, which included winning the Butler Spring Break Invitational back on March 11. Overall, WMU has placed in the top three in five of the team’s 11 tournaments and shot a total of eight rounds under 300.