Redbird Women’s Golf wins in dominant fashion at the Loyola Invitational
Written by Noah Simon on October 14, 2024
Image Courtesy of Redbird Athletics
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women’s golf team won their second tournament in just three weeks at the Loyola Parkinson Family Invitational, as they finished with a score of 878 (+14). The Redbirds won by a dominant 13 strokes, ahead of Butler University (891), Cal Baptist (895), Bowling Green (902), Dayton (904), St. Thomas (908), South Dakota (912), Ball State (913), Omaha (916), UIC (921), Utah Tech (926), Loyola Chicago (931), and Creighton (953), who rounded out the field of competitors.
The Redbirds shot collective rounds of 76 (+4), 78, and 76 again over the three-day tournament, which tied them for the seventh-lowest tournament score in program history, beating the previous record held by the 1998-99 team, which needed 5 tournaments to equal their win total.
Leading the charge for the Redbirds was freshman Elise Fennell, who tied her career-low scoring round on the final day with a one-under-par 71. This put her in a tie for third place in the individual standings, and her 3-day score of 217 (+1) is tied for the second-lowest tournament score by a freshman in the history of the program. She also tied her personal best 3-round score by shooting one over par and even par on the previous two days.
Redshirt Junior Morgan Jones and Graduate Student Jinyoung Yun both finished the tournament in a tie for 5th place with a 3-day score of 218 (+2). Jones started the tournament out with a score of 71 (-1) on day one, followed by a one-over par second round and a two-over par final round.
Yun struggled a little bit on her final day, scoring a 77 (+5), compared to her previous two tournament scores of even par and a team-best 3 under par 69.
Senior Lory Paradis finished the tournament tied for 11th place with a score of 223 (+7). She shot respective rounds of 75 (+3), 72, and 76 (+4).
Freshman Alex Sparrow shot a one under 71 on the final day of the tournament, tying her for 18th overall at 226 (+10). She joins Elise Fennell for the lowest ISU scorecards on the final day. She began the tournament with rounds of 77 and 78 before finishing strong on day three. Her final round saw her climb up 10 spots in the individual standings to close out the tournament.
Rounding out play for the Redbirds, freshman Jessica Jolly finished in a tie for 39th, carding a tournament score of 233 (+17). She shot rounds of 77 (+5), 80 (+8), and 76 (+4) for the tournament.
ISU now gets a weekend off before closing out the 2024-25 fall season by traveling to the Clash at Boulder Creek, held in Boulder City, Nevada, starting on Sunday, October 20.
