The Indiana State women's golf team hits the links for the fourth time this fall on Monday & Tuesday, October 16-17 at the MIssouri Valley Conference Preview in Newton, Kan. The event will be hosted by former league member Wichita State at the Sand Creek Station Golf Course, which is a par-72, 6,103-yard layout.
All 10 current league members plus host Wichita State are entered into this tournament. The Sycamore lineup will consist of
Sierra Hargens,
Sophie Benetti,
Robyn Blanchard,
Abigail Irwin and
Thilda Staubo. Wichita native
Alex Jennings as well as
Dawn Turner will be playing in the tournament as individuals.
"The Preview is just that, an opportunity for us to get a good look at the course we will be competing on next spring for an opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament," head coach
Greg Towne said. "There are many athletes on our team that could be playing in the Conference Championship in April and we are doing everything we can to get them experience on this course. One of the areas we are going to stress this week is playing in the wind. We anticipate 20 mph plus in Kansas and playing in the wind and higher altitude is a challenge, especially if you haven't done it before."
Hargens captured the Butler Fall Invitational individual championship as well as Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golfer of the Week honors her last time out. Hargens picked her first career individual victory in thrilling fashion beginning with a then career-best round of 71 during the first round and came back with a even better round of even par-70 over the final 18 on Tuesday as she erased a four shot deficit to tie Indianapolis' Kyle Raines and Paxton DeHaven, who was playing as an individual. Hargens carded a par on the fourth extra hole to give her the victory over Raines. It is the first individual victory for Hargens in her young career besting a second place finish last year at Youngstown State.
She led Indiana State to a second place finish overall in the event which is the best team showing for the Sycamores so far this season.
The event will have live results on GoSycamores.com and GolfStat.com. The event will begin with 36 holes on Monday and a final round of 18 on Tuesday. Each day begins with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. (ET).
