Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Set To Host Big Ten Championships
4/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 25, 2007
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - With two first-place finishes and four second-place tallies in 10 starts this year, the 22nd-ranked Michigan State women's golf team is confident it can win its first Big Ten Championship since 2001. The championships start on Friday with two rounds scheduled for the first day before single rounds conclude the 72-hole event on Saturday and Sunday.
The Spartans will be competing in the championship at their home course, the par-72, 6,237-yard Forest Akers West Golf Course. Michigan State, which heads into the tournament ranked second among Big Ten schools in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings behind eighth-ranked Purdue, is undeniably a favorite heading into the weekend. The winner of the Big Ten Tournament will earn an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., from May 10-12.
For live scoring and complete results from the event, please visit www.golfstat.com.
Can't Beat The Experience
When head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll completes her lineup for the Big Ten Championships next week, there will be three very familiar faces in the draw, as Mandi McConnell, Rachel Meikle and Heather Rose will each be competing in their fourth career Big Ten Championships. All three have finished in the top 20 twice at the event during their careers, with McConnell finishing a career-best 12th as a sophomore, Meikle tied for 14th as a freshman and Rose tied for fourth as a sophomore. Junior Sara Brown has also competed in two Big Ten Championships, coming in second as a sophomore.
Defending The Home Course
The Spartans have won the last two tournaments played at Forest Akers West and three of the last four, as they captured the Lady Northern Invitational on Sept. 16-17, 2006, the Mary Fossum Invitational on Sept. 17-18, 2005 and the Mary Fossum Invitational in 2003. This fall, the Spartans finished nine strokes ahead of Northwestern at the tournament to earn the win in a 12-team field that included nine Big Ten schools. The Spartans used a very solid effort that included three players (seniors Heather Rose and Mandi McConnell and junior Sara Brown) tying for fifth at 7-over-par.
A Quick Look At The Rankings
Junior Sara Brown enters the Big Ten Tournament ranked 34th in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings, which is the third-best ranking in the Big Ten Conference behind Purdue's Maria Hernandez (7th) and Christina Boeljon (31st). Only three other Big Ten golfers are in the nation's top 100: Purdue's Stefanie Endstrasser (68th), Ohio State's Dana Je (73rd) and Purdue's Myrtle Eikenaar (97th). Three other Spartans are ranked among the nation's top 200 golfers, including seniors Mandi McConnell (144), Heather Rose (151) and Rachel Meikle (192), making Michigan State one of only two teams in the Big Ten to have four players ranked in the top 200.
MSU At The Big Ten Championships
While Michigan State has won two Big Ten Championships since women's sports were incorporated into the NCAA in 1982, the school won five straight championships (1974-78) during the period when the AIAW governed women's athletics. The Spartans won the first official Big Ten Championship in 1982, and head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll led the team to a tournament title in 2001. In the past eight years, the Spartans have not finished lower than fifth, coming in third the past three years in a row. Last season, the Spartans were led by Sara Brown's second-place finish, and also got a 17th-place finish from Heather Rose.
Bunched Together
In the Spartans' six spring tournaments, the team has placed four golfers in the top 20 four times. The team placed four golfers in the top 10 at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 21-22, as seniors Rachel Meikle and Mandi McConnell finished tied for fourth, junior Sara Brown finished seventh and sophomore Holly Niederkohr finished tied for ninth. Michigan State also had four players in the top 20 at the Indiana Invitational, the Lady Gator Invitational, and the Central District Invitational.
High Mark For Holly
Sophomore Holly Niederkohr posted her first career top-10 finish as she tied for ninth at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 21-22. Niederkohr finished 15-over-par at 231 (75-79-77) during the three-round tournament. The Marysville, Ohio, native has shrugged off a tough start to the spring season by finishing in the top 20 in three of her last four tournaments. She has averaged 76.7 strokes in her last 11 rounds, a drop of more than two strokes per round after averaging 79.1 strokes per round through her first nine rounds.
A Career-High Finish
Senior Mandi McConnell posted the best finish in her Green and White career in her 34th career start as the Grand Blanc, Mich., native tied for fourth at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 21-22. McConnell had a steady first day, finishing 3-over-par after the first 36 holes before finishing 6-over-par on the final 18 to finish with a 226 (74-73-79), the fifth-lowest 54-hole total in her career. McConnell's previous career-best finish was fifth at the Lady Northern Invitational on Sept. 16-17. She finished tied for ninth at the Lady Northern Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., as a junior, shooting a career-low 221.
Meikle Makes Her Move
After finishing the fall averaging 81.6 strokes per round, senior Rachel Meikle has had quite the resurgance for the Spartans. Reentering a starting lineup that she was taken out of for two tournaments in the fall, Meikle has posted four top-20 finishes in five spring starts. She has posted back-to-back top-10 finishes, tying for second at the Indiana Invitaional on April 9-10 and tying for fourth at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 21-22. Her 75.1 stroke average in the spring is the second-lowest on the team, behind only junior Sara Brown.
Competing Against Herself
Junior Sara Brown is enjoying a season for the record books for the Spartans. Her 74.48 scoring average enters the postseason just 0.30 behind her own sophomore scoring average for the best in school history. She has also dropped her career scoring average to 75.42, which is also the lowest in MSU's record book. Brown has been consistent for the Spartans all season, finishing in the top 20 eight times in 10 tournaments and in the top 10 five times.
Big Start In The Big Ten
It took an off-week to stop Michigan State's Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week streak, as the Spartans captured the first two weekly honors of the year. Senior Heather Rose earned the Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week award for the week of Feb. 15 after finishing the Northrop Grumman in a tie for 20th with a 54-hole score of 226 after the senior posted a Michigan State-best round of 73 in her final round at the tournament. Junior Sara Brown earned the award the next week, as the Tuscon, Ariz. native shot a 1-under-par 215 to finish second at the Central District Classic in Parrish, Fla. Her round tied for the Spartans' third-best mark in a 54-hole tournament.
McConnell's Mark
After a rough start to her second tournament of the spring semester, senior Mandi McConnell made a late charge from 29th to sixth place at the Central District Invitational on Feb. 20 by tying a school record for a single round by firing a 68 in the third round. She is one of just three players in school history to shoot a 68 in a round, tying the mark set by both Allison Fouch on Feb. 13, 2002 and Kasey Gant on Oct. 12, 1998. McConnell notched six birdies in her record-tying round.
Hooters Match Play Upstarts
The 19th-ranked Spartans shocked many at the Hooters Match Play Championships with their fourth-place finish, as Michigan State managed 3-2 wins over 13th-ranked Arizona and sixth-ranked Auburn to reach the semifinals. Michigan State then fell to third-ranked Duke, 3-2, with the deciding match coming down to 20 holes, with freshman Laura Kueny falling to Anna Grzebien. Junior Sara Brown beat three players ranked in the top 50, including Duke's fourth-ranked Jennie Lee, 6 and 5. The team then lost 1-3-1 to top-ranked Georgia, with senior Heather Rose halving second-ranked Taylor Leon.
In The Fall
The Michigan State women's golf team completed its five-tournament fall schedule ranked No. 19 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, recording four top-five finishes and a win at the Lady Northern Invitational. The Spartans posted seven wins against Top-25 opponents and a 15-3-1 record against Big Ten teams. In the Spartans' final fall outing, MSU defeated No. 13 Arizona, No. 6 Auburn, and played hole-for-hole with No. 3 Duke and No. 1 Georgia at the Hooters Match Play Championship.
What A (Golf)Week
Junior Sara Brown was named Golfweek.com's Player of the Week after winning her first collegiate tournament at the Landfall Tradition on Oct. 29. The only player to score under par, Brown shot rounds of 74-69-72 for a 1-under 215 to win the competition by four strokes. Her score tied the third-best 54-hole score in school history and her second-round 69 was a career best. It was also the first time an MSU women's golfer had claimed medalist honors since Allison Fouch won back-to-back tournaments in 2003. Red, White, And Blue (And Brown)
Junior Sara Brown helped the United States capture the team championship at the 11th World University Games. Finishing fifth overall with a five-over-par 293, Brown recorded the second-best score for the American squad. Brown is just the fifth Spartan ever to compete in the elite world event, and only the second to collect a team championship.
Fine With Nine
The Spartans are seeking their ninth straight appearance in the NCAA Regional Championships, with head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll leading the Green and White to the Central Regionals in all but one season as head coach. Slobodnik-Stoll has led the team to six top-10 finishes at the event. Sara Brown finished 19th at the event to lead the team to a ninth-place finish in 2006.
The NCAA Nine
Michigan State, which is ranked fourth in the Central District, is in great position to earn its ninth bid to the NCAA Championships. The Spartans earned six straight bids under Slobodnik-Stoll from 2000-05. The team also earned bids under former head coach Mary Fossum in 1982 and 1984. Senior Heather Rose has competed in two NCAA Championships (2004, 05) and seniors Mandi McConnell and Rachel Meikle and junior Sara Brown each competed in one (2005).
The Mary Fossum Award
The Big Ten Conference office has accepted the women's golf coaches' recommendation for the creation of the Mary Fossum Award, the league announced on April 17. The award, named after the former Michigan State women's golf coach, will be presented to the student-athlete with the lowest stroke average according to the Golfstat.com rankings.
