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NORMAL, IL — A career best 5-over-par 76 by Jackie Heslop (Pequot Lakes, MN) and another steady round by Irish Whalen (Hanover/River Ridge) helped to keep the Northern Illinois women’s golf team in ninth place after the final round of comp




September 8, 2003

WOMEN'S COLLEGIATE GOLF---Northern Illinois University at Illinois State Redbird Classic / at Normal, IL / University Golf Course / Course Information: Par---71 / Yardage---5,995 / 36-Hole Event / Sunday-Monday / September 7-8, 2003

FINAL ROUND TEAM STANDINGS:
1. Missouri 302-302-296--900
2. Illinois State 292-305-310--907
3. Southern Methodist 310-300-300--910
4. Iowa 308-311-309--928
5. Southwest Missouri State 313-315-314--942
6. Bradley 316-307-320--943
7. Northern Iowa 308-315-322--945
8. Southern Illinois 325-312-312--949
9. Northern Illinois 320-326-324--970
10. Western Illinois 339-329-324--992
11. Missouri-Kansas City 339-334-330--1003
12. Loyola 338-339-331--1008

NORTHERN ILLINOIS FINAL-ROUND RESULTS:
t38. Irish Whalen 78-82-81--241
t41. Jackie Heslop 81-85-76--242
t43. Jackie Bailey 75-84-84-243
t54. Jamie Carney 86-75-90--251
66. Allison Williams 89-87-83--259

*61 Lisa Bailey 95-82-80-257
* Competed as an individual

FINAL ROUND INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
1. Laura Cross (SMU) 72-71-72--215
2. Samantha Richdale (ISU) 71-73-74--218
3. Denise Knaebel (Missouri) 72-77-71--220
4. Stephanie Turner (Missouri) 76-74-73--223
5. Liz Bennett (Iowa) 78-71-77--226
Megan Hanson (SMSU) 76-74-76--226
Maria Ohlsson (Missouri) 73-76-77--226
8. Erin Simmons (SMU) 76-75-76--227
Agnes Kim (Bradley) 78-72-77--227
10. Ashlie Rose (ISU) 70-79--79--228
Hilary Anderson (ISU) 74-79-75--228

HESLOP'S CAREER-BEST ROUND PACES WOMEN'S GOLF TO NINTH-PLACE FINISH AT REDBIRD CLASSIC
NORMAL, IL — A career best 5-over-par 76 by Jackie Heslop (Pequot Lakes, MN) and another steady round by Irish Whalen (Hanover/River Ridge) helped to keep the Northern Illinois women’s golf team in ninth place after the final round of competition at the 12-team Illinois State Redbird Classic (Sept. 7-8) in Normal, IL.

The Huskies shot a final round 324 to stay four shots ahead of Southern
Illinois for the ninth position. Missouri (302-302-296—900) won the 12-team event after a final-round 296 helped to propel the Tigers to the tournament title over event host Illinois State (292-305-310—907). Southern Methodist University’s Laura Cross won the individual medalist honors with a three-round total of 215.

Heslop’s final-round 76 shattered her previous best collegiate round of 86,
which she shot at last season’s Lady Northern Invitational (Sept. 28-29). The final-round score also helped her to a career best overall finish of 41st.

“It was a great round by Jackie,” Northern Illinois head coach Pam Tyska said. “We had three collegiate bests shot at this tournament, now we need to keep having them. When we get those career bests shot over and over again, you will see this team continue to improve.”

Improvement is just what Tyska got, as her team’s performance this weekend was a dramatic improvement over its performance at last season’s ISU Redbird Classic. Last season the Huskies finished seventh overall in the eight-team field, but this year the Huskies bested three teams in the standings including in-state rivals Southern Illinois and Western Illinois.

Leading the way for the Huskies was Whalen who shot a final-round 81 to finish tied for 38th. Whalen’s total of 78-82-81—241 marks the first time the junior has led the Huskies at a tournament in her career.

“I could really see the improvement on this team from a year ago,” Tyska said.“Not only in the ones who had career-best rounds, but everyone. We are getting more consistent and with freshman Lisa Bailey coming along, we are a deeper team.”

While Lisa Bailey (Decatur/Warrensburg-Latham) competed as an individual and won’t count towards the team score, the freshman from Decatur, IL, shot a final round 80, the best round of her young collegiate career, to finish 61st.Finishing third for NIU was first-day Huskie leader, Jackie Bailey (Decatur/Warrensburg-Latham). The sophomore finished 43rd overall with scores of 75-84-84-243, while Jamie Carney (Rolling Meadows) and Allison Williams (Hoffman Estates/Palatine Fremd) finished fourth and fifth on the team with overall scores of 257 and 259.

- Copy by David Reiter

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