SLIAC Women's Golf Championship Preview
The inaugural St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championship will take place this upcoming Monday and Tuesday, October 23-24 at Aberdeen Golf Course in Eureka, Mo. The tournament field will include members from Eureka College, Fontbonne University, Iowa Wesleyan University, MacMurray College, Spalding University, and Westminster College.
The Eureka College team will be making their fall debut this week and have set their lineup with freshman Jaci Marshall, Juliene Moore, junior Samantha Sarnes, and sophomore Hannah Still. Eureka is coached by Chip Wilde.
Fontbonne appeared in three events this fall including a 4th place finish at the Lindenwood-Belleville Invite earlier this week. The Griffins are averaging 432 strokes per round as a team this fall with a low round of 429. Their top golfer is junior Hannah Householder with an average of 95.3 per round. Householder has finished in the Top 20 in two of her three events this fall with a low round of 87. Sophomore Maddi Vandervort gives the Griffins a strong top of the lineup and is coming off a 5th place finish at the Lindenwood-Belleville Invite. Vandervort is averaging 98.5 strokes per round bested her previous low round score of the season by eight strokes with an 88 earlier this week.
Iowa Wesleyan comes into the tournament holding a 445.0 team average in three events. Coached by Natalie Taylor the Tigers have two top-five finishes this fall and a low round of 414. Sophomore Hannah Lien is the player to watch for the Tigers with an average of 94.0 per round and a low round of 92. She has one top-five finish this fall.
MacMurray is led by first-year head coach Wade Mathis. The Highlanders have competed in three events this fall, fielding a full team for one event where they finished with a team score of 432. Freshmen Lauren Anderson and Kayla Dannaman head up the roster. Anderson shot a 95 in her only event this fall while Dannaman is shooting 96 strokes per round including a low of 90 and one top-five finish.
Spalding has not only played the most events this fall among SLIAC teams, four, but also come in with the best team score among conference members with a 359 team average. The Golden Eagles low round this fall was a 346 and they are coming off a 3rd place finish at the IU Kokomo Invite. Kassidy Wallin leads the Golden Eagles with an 86.5 average, toting a low round score of 83 this fall. Beth Graham could also compete for a conference individual title, coming in with an 88.1 average and a conference-best low round of 80 this season. The Golden Eagles are coached by Gina Nuzzo.
Westminster rounds out the competition and head coach Andrew Green will be fielding just one player, Rebecca Roth. Roth's long event this fall was at the William Woods Invitational two weeks ago, where she finished with a 110 average in the two-round event; placing 24th.
The 2017 SLIAC Women's Golf Championship will be a two-round event, with one round each on Monday and Tuesday. Tee time is set for 10 a.m. on both days.
