Sept. 25, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Rain fell throughout Sunday's final round at the Lady Northern Intercollegiate but did not drop the University of Illinois women's golf team morale.

"I thought the team played spectacularly in the rain," head coach Paula Smith said.

Senior Megan Godfrey said concentration allowed the Illini to ascend two places in the team standings.

"We were able to stay focused when other teams were concerned with the rain."

Starting with a 301, the Orange and Blue carded its second and third best rounds of the season, consecutively on Saturday and Sunday.

Sophomore Seul Ki Park (+9) missed par by a combined three strokes in her last two rounds after shooting six-over in Saturday's first round.

"Today it was really hard to keep focused because of the weather," the sophomore said. "Mentally I tried to take everything step by step. I'm very proud of myself. I was very calm and relaxed. Two-over in this kind of weather is amazing."

Purdue University shot five-over on Sunday following a three-under par Saturday. It did not matter, as the second-place Michigan State Spartans finished 20 strokes behind. The Boilermakers' Maria Hernandez and Illinois State's Samantha Richdale (-2) equaled each other for the second consecutive day to bag the championship.

The Fighting Illini team will rest from tournament play for two weeks before resuming their schedule at the Shootout at The Legends in Franklin, Ind. on Oct. 10-11.

One player who hopes to benefit is sophomore Kristine Cook. Cook withdrew Sunday because of a wrist injury. She will see a doctor later this week.

Lady Northern Invitational final results
1. Purdue                                       288-286-293=867
2. Michigan State University                    298-294-295=887
3. Penn State University                        293-296-305=894
4. Notre Dame, U of.                            303-296-304=903
5. Indiana                                      307-297-305=909
6. Michigan                                     296-312-308=916
7. Northwestern University                      312-300-305=917
8. ILLINOIS                                     314-301-304=919
9. Illinois State University                    304-304-312=920
10. Iowa                                        300-302-323=925
11. Wisconsin                                   313-304-316=933
12. Minnesota                                   313-310-311=934

Illinois Results T15. Megan Godfrey 75-76-73=224 T 17. Seul Ki Park 78-73-74=225 T 38. Casey Burden 81-76-77=234 T 51. Meghan Naik 81-76-80=237 T 63. Stephanie Mory 81-81-82=244