Michigan
Lady Northern Invitational
Career Performances Pace U-M to Lady Northern Title
9/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
URBANA, Ill. -- Playing on the course that will host the 2002 Big Ten Conference Championships, the University of Michigan women's golf team shot 292 on Sunday (Sept. 23) to secure the Lady Northern team title at Stone Creek Golf Club. Four Wolverines finished in the top 10 individually, led by runner-up Kim Benedict (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS), and another tied for 11th place.
Leading from start to finish, the Wolverines carded team totals of 290 and 291 in the first two rounds to help give them a school-record total of 873. The Wolverines' 873 total at the Lady Northern shattered the U-M record for best three-round tournament total by 16 strokes, bettering last season's 889 total at the Women's Collegiate Shootout (Oct. 9-10, 2000).
Northwestern (303-288-296/887) finished as the team runner-up and Kent State (300-290-302/892) was third.
Benedict, a junior, led the charge for the Maize and Blue, collecting her fourth career runner-up honor as she finished just a shot behind medalist Martina Gillen of Kent State (74-73-69/216). Benedict tallied a career-best 217 tournament total after firing rounds of 74-73-70.
Senior Misia Lemanski (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS) followed Benedict with a career-best tie for fourth place and career-low tournament total of 219 after rounds of 71-74-74. Senior Cortney Reno (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS) and senior LeAnna Wicks (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) followed the U-M trend as they both finished with career-best tournament totals. Reno, who tied for sixth, finished with a career-best 220 after rounds of 72-73-75, while Wicks tied her career-best total of 222 after rounds of 73-71-78.
Freshman Laura Olin (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) made her collegiate debut and finished with an impressive tie for 11th. She tallied rounds of 77-74-73 for a 224 inaugural tournament total. Senior Bess Bowers (Bloomington, Ind./North HS) tied for 57th after round scores of 73-76-81.
The Wolverines will be off a week before hosting their next action with the Wolverine Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, at the U-M Golf Course.
Team Standings
1. MICHIGAN 290-291-292 = 873
2. Northwestern 303-288-296 = 887
3. Kent State 300-290-302 = 892
4. Indiana 299-296-303 = 898
Penn State 302-302-294 = 898
6. Illinois 296-298-308 = 902
7. Minnesota 308-300-300 = 908
8. Wisconsin 304-299-308 = 911
9. Southern Illinois 310-300-306 = 916
10. Iowa 315-300-303 = 918
Bradley 310-296-312 = 918
12. Ohio 315-315-318 = 948
13. Northern Illinois 324-327-318 = 969
14. Illinois State 333-312-331 = 976
Top Individuals
1. Martina Gillen, Kent State 74-73-69 = 216 2. Kim Benedict, U-M 74-73-70 = 217 3. Emily Gilley, Northwestern 75-73-70 = 218 4. Misia Lemanski, U-M 71-74-74 = 219 Katie Futcher, Penn State 68-80-71 = 219 6. Cortney Reno, U-M 72-73-75 = 220 Karyn Stordahl, Minnesota 77-71-72 = 220 8. LeAnna Wicks, U-M 73-71-78 = 222 Karen Dennison, Indiana 72-76-74 = 222 Ina Kim, Northwestern 76-71-75 = 222 11. Laura Olin, U-M 77-74-73 = 224 Alison Hiller, Southern Ill. 78-72-74 = 224 Malinda Johnson, Wisconsin 78-69-77 = 224 Katie Connelly, Wisconsin 74-73-77 = 224 Jan Dowling, Kent State 72-75-77 = 224
Other Michigan Scores
T57. Bess Bowers 83-76-81 = 240
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Kathy Teichert
On the team victory .. "We started with a commanding lead and finished it off. We were very, very consistent and that is nice to see. It took six players to makes this happen. They worked together and fed of each other. We shot the lowest team score two of the three rounds and just kept hitting green after green. To win the Lady Northern by 14 strokes is unprecedented. It's awesome. I am really happy."
On the confidence after missing last week's opener ... "We were ready to play and looked forward to the Mary Fossum, but after it was cancelled we sat down and set our goals. We talked about winning tournaments. We talked about putting ourselves in a position to win. We talked about getting early leads and then keeping them. Our confidence just grew and grew over the first two rounds at the Lady Northern, and after we had the lead we never looked back. I mean to have four players in the top five (after 36 holes), you are going to do good things as a team and we did."
Junior Kim Benedict
On the win for the Wolverines ... "It's a great confidence boost for us. Everyone played solid, but we know that we can play much better than this. It is such a great way to start the year off for us. Playing this well now will only help our confidence as we go into the rest of the fall season."
On finishing as the individual runner-up ... "So, I finished second, it is nothing spectacular. Don't get me wrong, I am excited with my performance, but we won as a team and that is what matters and what will always matter."
Senior Misia Lemanski
On the team title ... "It is very gratifying. We (the current seniors) finished 10th as freshmen at the Lady Northern and to see where we've come and to see how we've improved is nice to see. Our confidence is very high right now and we played so well. When you have a team playing well it makes you play well."
On her career-best tournament ... "There were a lot of things I was happy with, but there were a lot of things I was disappointed with. It was a great tournament and I had fun, but I know I will get better and improve."
Senior LeAnna Wicks
On what the win means for the team ... "It's exciting to go out and win. Everyone contributed and everyone was confident. Things were just clicking for us. We are all coming off of great summers and this first performance is a sign of the work that we put in. This is good momentum for us going into the rest of the fall season."
N O T E S
• The team victory at the Lady Northern marks the fourth time in school history the Wolverines have opened the season raising a team trophy. The last time the U-M opened a season with a team victory was during the 1991-92 season, when it won the Wolverine Invitational. Prior to that title, the 1986 season opened with a win at the Notre Dame Invitational and 1981 began with a title at the Wolverine Invitational.
• Dating back to the start of the 2001 spring season, the team victory at the Lady Northern gives the Wolverines four team titles in their last seven regular-season tournaments; four in the last nine total tournaments including postseason events.
• The win at the Lady Northern Invitational gives the Wolverines their 13th team title since 1981, eight of which have come under coach Kathy Teichert's reign (1994-present).
• Michigan's team scores of 290, 291 and 293 are the second, third and fourth lowest rounds in school history. The Wolverines' opening 290 -- two over par -- missed the school single-round record by three strokes. The Wolverines shot 287 in the final round of the 2000 Shootout at the Legends (Oct. 10, 2000) in Franklin, Ind.
• Michigan's three team rounds below 300 marks the first time in school history the Wolverines have accomplished this feat.
• Junior Kim Benedict collected her fourth career individual runner-up honor at the Lady Northern. Her 217-tournament total was a career best, bettering her 221 she tallied at the Shootout at the Legends (Oct. 9-10, 2000) in Franklin, Ind. In addition, her third round of 70 at the Lady Northern tied her career-low round, which she had in the only round of the Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 23, 2000) in East Lansing, Mich.
• Senior Misia Lemanski's tie for fourth at the Lady Northern marked a career-best finish. Her prior best was a tie for fifth at the Lady Aztec Invitational (Feb. 12-13, 2001). Her 219 total destroyed her previous 54-hole tournament best total of 230 at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational (April 15-16, 2000) in Iowa City, Iowa. In addition, Lemanski's one-under-par 71 in the first round established a new career low for the senior, bettering the 73 she shot in the second round of the Hawkeye Invitational.
• Senior Cortney Reno's tournament total of 220 was a career best, bettering the 224 total she had at the Shootout at the Legends (Oct. 9-10, 2000) in Franklin, Ind.
• Senior LeAnna Wicks fired a one-under-par 71 in the second round, which marked the first time she has broken par in a college event and bettered her previous career low round of 72, which she accomplished twice in 2000-01. Her 222 total at the Lady Northern tied her career-best performance, matching the 222 she fired at the Shootout at the Legends (Oct. 9-10, 2000) in Franklin, Ind.
• The rounds of 71 by Lemanski and Wicks and the 70 by Benedict are the first sub-par rounds by a Wolverine since Oct. 10, 2000, when Cortney Reno (69) and Benedict (71) bettered the par of 72 in the final round of the Shootout at the Legends (Oct. 9-10, 2000) in Franklin, Ind.
Players Mentioned
