NORMAL, Ill. - The Saint Mary's golf team posted a season-best 310 and moved up two spots to take seventh place at the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic on Sunday.

 

Wisconsin-Whitewater took the team title with a 296 on Sunday for a 36-hole total of 601. Host and No. 14 ranked Illinois Wesleyan moved up a spot to take second with a 299 on day two and a cumulative team score of 608. Central was third with a 619. Saint Mary's had the fourth-lowest team score of the day and were one stroke out of a potential three-way tie for fifth with a 36-hole total of 637. Lexi Onsrud from Illinois Wesleyan won tournament medalist honors after a two-under 70 gave her a 145 for the weekend. 

 

Julia Lizak broke into the 70s for the first time in her collegiate career with a two-over par 74 on Sunday to move up 26 places and tie for 14th overall (157) in a field of 99 golfers. The freshman had a team-best five birdies - par 5 No. 3, par three No. 4, par five No. 7, par 4 No. 15, and par four No.18 - to go along with seven pars to go 37-37 on the front-back nine. Her nine birdies for the weekend were the most of any player in the tournament.

 

Katherine Hopkins shaved 12 strokes off of Saturday's score for a new career-low 76 as the senior co-captain moved 34 spots on the leaderboard to tie for 36th (164). Hopkins circled three birdies on her scorecard on day two with one-under efforts on par four No. 1, par five No. 7, and par four No. 18. She finished the tournament with 16 pars. 

 

Erin Bennett and Katelyn Tokarz shot matching scores for the second consecutive day with rounds of 80 to wrap up the team score while both finishing tied for 19th (158). Bennett registered 11 pars in the round and finished the tournament with 19 pars and was three-over in par three scoring over 36 holes of play. Tokarz had 12 pars on Sunday and led the team while finishing tied for third overall with 23 pars over the weekend. The sophomore added a two-over effort on par three holes to finish tied for 11th in the field in par three scoring.

 

Breana Harrington had a 10-stroke improvement from Saturday to Sunday as the fifth golfer in the Belles' lineup with an 84 to finish tied for 73rd (178). Harrington had a birdie on par five No. 11 and added six pars in the round. Amanda Melling competed as an individual at the event and posted her first sub-80 collegiate round with a 79 to finish tied for 42nd (165). The freshman circled a birdie on par four No. 2 and had ten pars on Sunday. Melling finished the weekend with 19 pars over 36 holes. 

 

The Belles now shift their focus to conference competition for the remainder of the fall season as Saint Mary's travels to Tecumseh Golf Club on Wednesday for the second MIAA Jamboree of the year, which is hosted by Adrian starting at 1:00 p.m.