Women move up while men struggle in Michigan
Ryan Ferguson
Issue date: 9/20/06 Section: Sports
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"The weather was an improvement from yesterday," said coach Lia Lukkarinen. "Though it was still a little breezy, which caused scores to be higher (on) the back nine."
Sophomore Becky Allen and senior Karra Johnson led the 'Winds in the 36-hole tournament, finishing in a four-way tie for third place (+11). Allen, who had sat in second position after Day 1, fell some, while Johnson picked up nine spots after ending the first day in a tie for 12th.
Freshmen Jennifer Holt (+21) and Jenna Keane (+28) also moved up from their Day 1 positions finishing in a tie for 17th and 31st, respectively. Sophomore Maggie Henke (+34) continued the trend of improvement, landing in tie for 40th.
"Overall, it was good to move up," Lukkarinen said. "I was pleased with (Allen) and (Johnson) finishing in the Top Three. (Keane) and (Holt) are getting their scores down and hopefully have their freshman jitters out."
Bradley (+44) took top honors while IPFW (+76), which will join the Mid-Continent Conference next school year, and IUPUI finished behind Western in fifth and sixth, respectively.
"It was great to have this many teams come out and participate," Lukkarinen said.
The Westerwinds will take the next week and a half off before the Northern Illinois Husky Invitational Oct. 1 and 2.
The Leathernecks (+5, +15, +7; +27) found themselves in trouble without senior Ben Hermes, their leading finisher from a week ago, at the Wolverine Intercollegiate.
Hermes was unable to make the trip to Ann Arbor, Mich. because of a prior commitment to a family function. Without him, the 'Necks finished 12th, but the absence of the senior allowed some of the younger team members to gain quality experience.
"They know what to expect now," said coach Mel Blasi. "The younger guys haven't had a chance to get in there and get experience. There's no substitute for experience.
"Those guys are going to be our future, so it was important for them to get their feet wet," added Blasi.
Senior Tim Streng (E) broke into the Top 10, finishing in a tie for eighth place. Also cracking the Top 20 was fellow senior Nick Kwaterski (+3), who tied for 17th.
"(Streng and Kwaterski) played very well," Blasi said.
One area that not only the seniors, but the whole team struggled on was putting. Blasi said the greens were much different than at Iowa. Changing from the judgement of the fast greens at Iowa to the slower greens in Michigan had a lot to do with where the 'Necks finished.
"(Streng) especially struggled with his putter," Blasi said. "If (Streng) would have putted well, I think he would have been right up there challenging for the medalist spot."
Senior Zach Guthrie and sophomores Shane Kwaterski and Brian Scott ended the 54-hole tournament in a tie for 69th (+15).
"(Kwaterski and Scott each) had one good round, which is a good sign," Blasi said.
The top three finishers were Wisconsin (-1), Michigan (+10) and Akron (+11), respectively. Oregon State's Mitch Gillis (-6) took medalist honors at the tournament.
The 'Necks will take the next week and a half off before traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio, to compete at Xavier University.
"Right now we have eight guys qualifying for two spots for this next tournament," Blasi said. "I think it will be very competitive out of those eight players. It's a lot of fun to be on a trip, so it's going to make them work harder to be out there."
-Western Illinois University
Athletics Media Services
contributed to this article.
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