Feb. 24, 2009
Islander Spring Classic Final Results
ROCKPORT, Texas - Illinois (949) battled through illness on the final day of the Islander Spring Classic to finish tied for sixth at the season-opening tournament. The depleted Illini lineup turned in a final round 322 on a day head coach Renee Slone wasn't sure they would even be able to post a final round team score.
"Everything was out of kilter today with most of the team under the weather," Slone said. "At the beginning of the morning, I was just hoping we could post a team score. I wasn't sure if we were going to have four people playing. Nancy was the only one who really felt like herself today."
After Nora Lucas withdrew due to illness, three of the remaining four Illini combated the flu bug in order to simply turn in a final round score. Freshman Samantha Sloan (230) led the charge during the final round, firing a 77 on Tuesday to finish tied for eighth. Sloan notched her first career top-10 finish, ranking as the highest finish by any Illini this year.
"Sammi really hung in there, so give her a lot of credit," Slone said. "She's got a lot of fight in her and there was no way that she was not finishing that round today."
Freshman Hailey Koschmann and senior Nancy Featherstone tied for 32nd with 54-hole totals of 239. Koschmann tallied a final round 79, while Featherstone turned in an 82 on Tuesday. Freshman Abby Cotter (246) shot an 84 for the final 18 holes and tied for 50th.
Texas-San Antonio (920) earned the team title, besting second-place Lamar (931) by 11 strokes. North Texas (936), Drake (940) and host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (947) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 15-team field. Houston Baptist and Sam Houston State (949) joined the Illini in a tie for sixth place.
Shelly Martinez of Texas-San Antonio took home medalist honors, shooting a seven-over 223 for the tournament.
Illinois turned in its highest finish of the season and looks to recover and build upon this tournament in which they held the lead after round one.
"We were leading after the first round, so now it's a matter of building on that and being able to get the job done," Slone said. "Having the lead was definitely a confidence boost for the team."
Illinois returns to action in two weeks when it heads to Orange Park, Fla., for the Eagle Landing Invitational, hosted by James Madison, on March 9-10.
