Sept. 19, 1999
MADISON, Wis. - The Notre Dame women's golf team slipped to a
13th-place finish after final-round action Sunday at the Lady Northern
Invitational, held at the par-72, 5,962-yard University Ridge Golf Course.
The injury-depleted Irish claimed eighth place after posting a 320 on
Friday in the play-six, count-four format but slipped to ninth on Saturday
(324) before landing in 13th with a final-round 326. While the Irish score
slipped back in each round, several other teams were able to creep past
Notre Dame, with Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois State each moving
past the Irish on the final day.
Purdue (303-300-292) held on for a five-stroke victory over host Wisconsin
(901), followed by Ohio State (915), Northwestern (915) and Indiana (917).
Iowa used a final-round 303 to vault into eighth while Michigan (966),
Minnesota (967) and Illinois State (967) each edged Notre Dame (970) by
narrow margins.
Junior Shane Smith-who transferred to Notre Dame from SMU prior to the 1998
fall semester-shot a 78 on Sunday for a share of 20th in the 96-player
field at 233 (80-75-78)-blowing away her previous best score with the Irish
by 10 strokes.
Two other Notre Dame golfers also posted career-best 54-hole scores, as
sophomore Kristin McMurtrie closed with an 81 for a consistent 242 total
(80-81-81), slicing nine strokes off her best effort from 1998-99. Junior
Danielle Villarosa finished with a second straight 82 for a 249 total,
edging her previous career-best by two strokes.
Junior Becca Schloss also counted to the team score on Sunday, carding an
85 for a disappointing 261 total. Senior Beth Cooper failed to capitalize
on an opening-round 79, shooting 87 on Saturday and 89 on Sunday for a 255
total.
Freshman Priscilla Ro rounded out the Irish contingent with an 87 on
Sunday, good for a 254 total on her first career intercollegiate
tournament.
Notre Dame senior captain Andrea Klee remains out indefinitely with a
forearm injury suffered during the summer of '99 while junior Mary Klein
was a late scratch from the tournament due to a sore neck problem. Klein
(82.73) and Klee (82.86) paced the Irish during the 1998-99 season with
near-identical season stroke averages.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (54 holes): 1. Purdue 303-300-392/896, 2. Wisconsin
306-301-294/901, 3. Ohio State 304-304-307/915, Northwestern
302-313-300/915, 5. Indiana 308-304-305/917, 6. Kent 316-299-308/923, 7.
Penn State 309-322-306/937, 8. Iowa 323-323-303/949, 9. Michigan State
324-314-320/958, 10. Michigan 325-324-317/966, 11. Minnesota
326-324-317/967, 12. Illinois State 327-319-321/967, 13. Notre Dame
320-324-326/970, 14. Illinois 345-334-314/993, 15. Southern Illinois
327-330-329/996, 16. Northern Illinois 353-339-340/1032.
TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 96): 1. Stacy Orschell (PUR) 71-75-71/217, 2. Allie
Bloomquist (WIS) 74-72-72/218, 3. Andrea Meeker (WIS) 71-75-74/220, 4.
Kari Damron (PUR) 75-75-72/222, 5. Cheryl Tooshkenig (KENT) 79-75-74/228,
Andrea Lavelle (PSU) 73-76-79/228, Andrea Makauskas (PUR) 78-74-76/228,
8. M.C. Mullen (IOWA) 80-76-73/229, Amber Amstutz (OSU) 76-72-81/229,
Theresa McDermott (IU) 78-73-78/229.
NOTRE DAME SCORES: 20. Shane Smith 80-75-78/233, 43. Kristin McMurtrie
80-81/-81/242, 63. Danielle Villarosa 85-82-82/249, 73. Priscilla Ro
81-86-87/254, 75. Beth Cooper 79-87-89/255, 82. Becca Schloss
89-87-85/261.
