'Winds place fourth in Summit tourney
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Sports
Western Illinois senior Becky Allen closed out her playing career with her fourth-consecutive all-conference nomination and the Westerwinds golf team ended the season with a fourth place finish in The Summit League Championship.
Allen and the Westerwinds battled torrential rain and gale-force winds through two rounds, but managed to come out with team score of 666, finishing in the top half of the league for the second-straight year. Oral Roberts finished atop the leaderboard at 619 to take the team's 12th consecutive league championship.
"We're pretty happy with the way we finished," Western Illinois coach Lia Biehl Lukkarinen said. "It was really tough conditions and we held it together. It would have been really easy to let the weather get the best of us, but we didn't."
Allen shot 163 (85-78) to finish in a tie for 10th, earning her fourth straight nomination to the all-Summit League second team.
"I was really happy for her. She finished really strong today," Biehl Lukkarinen said of her senior leader. "She's been a great kid. She's going to be hard to replace - impossible to replace, really."
Also competing for Western Illinois, freshman Emily Brink (83-82) and sophomore Lindsay Wandrey (81-84) both shot 165 to tie for 15th place while sophomore Tara Peterman tied for 31s at 173 (87-86) and sophomore Claire Gursh tied for 37th at 178 (91-87).
ORU's Christy Carter shot a 148 (72-76) to take individual medalist honors and earn the title of The Summit League player of the year. ORU's Lance Watson was named coach of the year and the Golden Eagles' Amber Hensley was named newcomer of the year.
The fourth place finish capped off one of the most successful seasons in team history in which the team won three tournaments and saw Allen claim her first career individual win.
"It was a really good season for us. It is the best we've had as far as wins go," Lukkarinen said. "We area really making progress as a team. We are going to work hard in the offseason to try and get even better."
First team all-Summit League
Christy Carter, ORU
Amber Hensley, ORU
Kelsey Kipp, UMKC
Kylie Bollenbach, ORU
Liz Ecker, Oakland
Crystal Reeves, ORU
Chelsea Wongjirad, NDSU
Second team all-Summit League
Chelsea Cadwell, UMKC
Madison Maddox, UMKC
Becky Allen, Western Illinois
Jenna Buckwalter, NDSU
Candra Sumedhatip, Southern Utah
Allen and the Westerwinds battled torrential rain and gale-force winds through two rounds, but managed to come out with team score of 666, finishing in the top half of the league for the second-straight year. Oral Roberts finished atop the leaderboard at 619 to take the team's 12th consecutive league championship.
"We're pretty happy with the way we finished," Western Illinois coach Lia Biehl Lukkarinen said. "It was really tough conditions and we held it together. It would have been really easy to let the weather get the best of us, but we didn't."
Allen shot 163 (85-78) to finish in a tie for 10th, earning her fourth straight nomination to the all-Summit League second team.
"I was really happy for her. She finished really strong today," Biehl Lukkarinen said of her senior leader. "She's been a great kid. She's going to be hard to replace - impossible to replace, really."
Also competing for Western Illinois, freshman Emily Brink (83-82) and sophomore Lindsay Wandrey (81-84) both shot 165 to tie for 15th place while sophomore Tara Peterman tied for 31s at 173 (87-86) and sophomore Claire Gursh tied for 37th at 178 (91-87).
ORU's Christy Carter shot a 148 (72-76) to take individual medalist honors and earn the title of The Summit League player of the year. ORU's Lance Watson was named coach of the year and the Golden Eagles' Amber Hensley was named newcomer of the year.
The fourth place finish capped off one of the most successful seasons in team history in which the team won three tournaments and saw Allen claim her first career individual win.
"It was a really good season for us. It is the best we've had as far as wins go," Lukkarinen said. "We area really making progress as a team. We are going to work hard in the offseason to try and get even better."
First team all-Summit League
Christy Carter, ORU
Amber Hensley, ORU
Kelsey Kipp, UMKC
Kylie Bollenbach, ORU
Liz Ecker, Oakland
Crystal Reeves, ORU
Chelsea Wongjirad, NDSU
Second team all-Summit League
Chelsea Cadwell, UMKC
Madison Maddox, UMKC
Becky Allen, Western Illinois
Jenna Buckwalter, NDSU
Candra Sumedhatip, Southern Utah
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