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The Illinois women’s golf team finished 10th at the Minnesota Invitational hosted at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from September 15-16. Head coach Renee Slone’s unit grabbed 10th place with a 920 total score.

“It was a tale of two different teams” said Slone in regards to Illinois’ bounce back after an opening round score of 319 which put the orange and blue in 14th place. The second round saw a 26-stroke difference with the Illini carding a 293 team score for the round. Slone’s crew fired a 308 on the final day in the 14-team field.

Slone stated “I am proud of how we were able to put the first round behind us and put together a stellar second round on the 36-hole day”.

Stephanie Miller led the Illini with a total score of 228 (78-72-78) and finished tied for 21st individually. The sophomore carded a team-best eight birdies and shot for par on an additional 30 holes. Chayanid (Jan) Prapassarangkul was the only other Illini to card an even-par round at the tournament. The freshman tied for 30th individually after carding rounds of 80-72-78 (230).

Dana Gattone and Grace Park tied for 37th at 231 after posting scores of 81-74-76 and 80-75-76 respectively. Emily Joers finished in a tie for 53rd at 238 (81-76-81).

East Carolina ran away with the title and posted a final score of 879. Colorado took home second place (900), while Kansas grabbed third (905). GRU Augusta and Texas tied for fourth at 907.

Illinois carded the second most birdies as a team at the Minnesota Invitational with a total of 30 while East Carolina posted 35.

The Fighting Illini will be in action again at the Diane Thomason Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa from October 4-5. Last year Slone’s team took home the title at the event including an individual victory by then-freshman Stephanie Miller.

Before the orange and blue head to Iowa City, Slone shared “the team will focus on continued short game work, chipping, and finding a way to get the ball in the hole along with thinking through options to find a way to score” during the upcoming weeks of practice.