No. 23 Spartans Finish Second At Central District Invitational

Feb. 20, 2007

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PARRISH, Fla. - Four Spartans finished inside the top 20 and junior Sara Brown (Tuscon, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic) wrapped up a 1-under-par tournament in second place as the No. 23 Michigan State women's golf team finished second at the seventh annual Central District Invitational at River Wilderness Country Club on Tuesday afternoon.

Texas A&M wrapped up its first Central District Invitational title, finishing with a tournament-record 874 (291-296-287), for a three-round total of 10-over-par, led by Ashley Knoll's tournament-record 209 (67-73-69). Michigan State finished 13 strokes behind, but its three-round total of 887 (296-297-294) was still the fourth-best score in the seven years of the Central District.

Brown, who finished under par for the third time in her career at a 54-hole tournament, shot a 2-over-par 74 on the last day of the tournament after finishing 3-under-par during 36 holes on Monday. The junior posted two birdies, one on the 480-yard, par-5 No. 4 and one on the 500-yard, par-5, No. 11. A double bogey and two bogeys kept her out of reach of Knoll. Brown's three-day mark of 215 (71-70-74) tied for the school's third-best score in a 54-hole tournament.

"Sara's dream is to play on the LPGA Tour," Michigan State Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said, "and she's making progress to live her dream of playing on the tour. She is playing very well against some of the best in the country. It's awesome to watch."

Senior Mandi McConnell (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) tied a school record for low-18 hole score, as she fired a 68 to drop from a tie for 29th place on Monday to finish tied for sixth at 6-over-par 222 (76-78-68). McConnell posted a remarkable six birdies in the round, as she had three birdies in her first nine holes (No. 4; the 490-yard, par-5, No. 8; the 374-yard, par-4 No. 10) after starting on the second hole. She posted birdies on the 180-yard, par-3 No. 12 and the par-3, 158-yard No. 17, but two bogeys moved her back to 3-under-par before she finished the round with a birdie on the par-4, 344-yard No. 1.

"She played awesome today. It was funny because last night and this morning, she was very confident and she said she just needed a breakthrough," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "It was a breakthrough day. To get a 4-under-par round and a 68, it was awesome."

McConnell is the first Spartan to shoot a 68 since Allison Fouch did it at the TRW Regional Challenge on Feb. 13, 2002, and joins exclusive company, as Kasey Gant is the only other Spartan to fire a 68, doing so at the Big Ten/Big 12 Shootout on Oct. 12, 1998.

Senior Heather Rose (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe) finished in a tie for 12th, as the senior shot a 6-over-par 78 during her last round. Rose had four bogeys and a double-bogey in her round, but thanks to a 2-over-par performance in her first two rounds on Monday, she clinched her fifth top-20 finish in six starts this season.

Senior Rachel Meikle (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) finished in a tie for 18th after shooting a final round 2-over-par 74 to leap from 24th to 18th. Meikle birdied No. 17, but played even par on 15 holes to help her to her lowest round of the season. She also claimed her first top-20 finish of the season.

Sophomore Holly Niederkohr (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) finished in a tie for 46th with a three-day total of 234 (79-77-78). The sophomore birdied two holes during her final round, No. 4 and the par-5, 484-yard No. 15.

The Spartans will take off the next two weekends before heading to Gainesville, Fla., for the Lady Gator Invitational, starting on March 10.

"The nice thing is now we're going to go down to Florida for 10 days for spring break," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "We'll have some time to improve and work for six days before playing in the Lady Gator. We are continually working and getting closer to where we want to be, which is at the NCAA Championships. We're making progress daily."