April 27, 2003

Iowa City, Iowa - Illinois entered the final round of the 2003 Big Ten Championships tied for fourth place, but the Illini finished seventh after today's round of 312 gave the team a 72-hole total score of 1236. Ohio State successfully defended its conference title, winning the tournament with a score of 1194. Wisconsin was a distant second at 1223 while Northwestern improved from eighth yesterday to finish in third at 1230, six shots ahead of the Illini. It was a close race for third place, as a total of just 11 strokes separated the third through 11th place teams. The Championship was hosted by the University of Iowa at the par 73, 6,053-yard Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa.

Senior Laurin Kanda tallied Illinois' best score of the day, carding a 2-over par 75 to finish the tournament in 15th place with a total score of 304, 12-shots above par. That ties the fourth-lowest 72-hole score in school history, as Kanda equals the 304 recorded by Becky Biehl at the 1995 Big Ten Championships.

Senior Renata Young and junior Marla Cox tied for 23rd, each finishing 19-over par with 311 scores. Senior Stephanie Cheney finished three shots behind Young and Cox, tying for 28th place with a 314.

Rounding out the action for the Illini, junior Michelle Carroll finished tied for 44th with at 320, while senior Carmel Sielicki placed 62nd at 343.

The race for the individual title ended in a tie, as Indiana's Karen Dennison and Ohio State's Allison Hanna finished as co-medalists with winning scores of 2-over par 294.

The Illini now await Monday afternoon's announcement of teams invited to compete in NCAA Regionals, which will be held May 8-10.

2003 Big Ten Championships-Final Team Standings

1.   Ohio State       302-303-295-294=1194
2.   Wisconsin        309-311-296-307=1223
3.   Northwestern     319-314-297-300=1230
4.   Purdue           312-317-305-298=1232
5.   Michigan State   307-318-299-310=1234
6.   Michigan         313-307-305-310=1235
7.   ILLINOIS         309-315-300-312=1236
8.   Indiana          311-309-302-315=1237
9.   Minnesota        317-310-306-305=1238
10.  Iowa             323-310-301-305=1239
11.  Penn State       312-309-308-312=1241

Illinois Results

15.   Laurin Kanda       77-75-77-75=304    +12
T23.  Renata Young       77-78-74-82=311    +19
T23.  Marla Cox          79-79-74-79=311    +19
T28.  Stephanie Cheney   76-84-78-76=314    +22
T44.  Michelle Carroll   80-83-75-82=320    +28
62.   Carmel Sielicki    86-84-86-87=343    +51