March 22, 2011

ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Illinois women's golf team jumped five spots on Tuesday to finish in a tie for fourth at the BYU Entrada Classic, held at the par-72, 6,026-yard Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah. Illinois (926) took advantage of the third round with an eight-over par 296, the second lowest round of the day. Wisconsin (914) took home the team title, followed by runner-up Oklahoma State (919), and Texas State (921). BYU (926) and Texas-San Antonio (926) joined the Illini in a tie for fourth.

"It was a much better round today," head coach Renee Slone said. "We were able to post solid scores, which that is something that we had been talking about quite a bit lately. It was good to finish off the tournament on a positive note and move up the leader board."

The Orange and Blue were paced by junior Hailey Koschmann (222), who recorded a final round one-over par 73 to place second, the junior's highest finish of the year. Koschmann finished only four strokes off medalist Demi Mak of New Mexico State, with her final round highlighted by one birdie and 15 pars.

"Hailey had another solid round today," head coach Renee Slone said. "She hit the ball well, just didn't have the putter working, but it was a solid tournament for her."

Junior Samantha Sloan (230) used a two-over par 74 in the third round to move up four spots and finished in a tie for 15th. Freshman Ember Schuldt (234) used a two-over par 74, her best round of the tournament, to move ten spots in the third round and placed in a tie for 26th. Junior Katelin Dilger (246) finished the tournament with a nine-over par 81 and placed in a tied for 56th. Senior Raquel Hopton was able to overcome illness that kept her out of the first two rounds and carded a three-over par 75 in the final round.

"This will definitely aid us, knowing that we were able to get off to a better start in the first round then what we have been lately," Slone said. "We put ourselves in good position after the first round, which we've been struggling with lately."

While Illinois does not have another spring break tournament, the Illini will be spending the rest of the week in Las Vegas and will be playing a couple courses in the area. The Illini will be back in action in April as they travel to Columbus, Ind., for the Indiana Invitational on April 4-5.

T4 ILLINOIS 313-317-296 = 926

2 Hailey Koschmann 72-77-73 = 222

T15 Samantha Sloan 76-80-74 = 230

T26 Ember Schuldt 80-80-74 = 234

T56 Katelin Dilger 85-80-81 = 246

80 Raquel Hopton 0-0-75 = 75