Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Big Ten Championships
Hoosiers Shine During Opening Day of Big Ten Championships
4/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 28, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Playing under clear skies and 75-degree weather, the Indiana women's golf team may have shined the brightest through day one of the 2006 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships. The Hoosiers had their best performance during the 2005-06 campaign, carding scores of 300 and a season-low 292 through the opening 36 holes, and will enter round three of the four-round event in fourth place overall with a 592.
The round of 292 tied for sixth-best single-round score in IU lore, while the two-round tally of 592 tied for seventh-best in the record books for 36-hole results.
"A lot of people think that our finish today was a surprise, but I didn't necessarily because we have been so close to shooting this kind of round so many times," IU head coach Clint Wallman said. "Once our girls got past the first-round jitters and just played, they did wonderfully."
Sophomore Elaine Harris led the IU charge with a career-best day on the links. The San Francisco, Calif., native topped her career-low marks for 18 and 36 holes on the afternoon. Harris' second-round 70 bested her former mark of 73 set on three different occasions, while her 36-hole 141 bettered her 148 set at the Lady Lion Invitational on Oct. 15-16.
Harris will begin Saturday's third round at three-under par, just one stroke behind tournament leader Alice Kim of Northwestern (68-72/140). Kim and Harris were the only players to shoot under par during the day on the par-72, 6,477-yard Indiana University Golf Course.
Freshman Tara Boone also played exceptional in her first-ever Big Ten Championship. The Huntington, Ind., native finished the day with new 18 and 36-hole bests. Boone opened play with a career-best 74 and will begin the third round tied for 18th with a career-best 36-hole 151.
Senior Shannon Johnson, the nation's No. 43-ranked golfer, also continued her stellar play, collecting a three-over par 143 (75-72) on the day. She is tied for eighth overall through two rounds of championship play.
Junior Jenny Kim is tied for 45th with a two-round tally of 157 (82-75), while freshman Amber Lindgren's strong second round propelled her in a tie for 57th with a 161 (86-75). Senior Katie Carlson rounds out the Hoosier scoring with a 162 (80-82).
"This was the first time we have had top-to-bottom balanced scoring," Wallman said. "You cannot say enough about Elaine. She had a breakout tournament and that is what we talked about. Shannon played solid and steady, Jenny had a great second round, Tara gave us a huge lift in the first round and Amber bounced back after a tough first round to finish strong. All in all, everyone contributed to this performance.
"We did well today, but tomorrow is a new day. We have to keep doing what we did (Friday), which is keep playing hard and do the things we did today that produced these results."
Purdue holds a slim four-stroke lead over second place Ohio State (293-297/590) and Michigan State (296-294/590), carding a 586 (290-296) on Friday. Indiana took a brief lead midway through the second round, thanks to setting a blistering pace, before settling into fourth overall. The Hoosiers hold a nine-stroke advantage over fifth-place Michigan (296-301).
The 2006 Big Ten Tournament continues with 18 holes on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. EST on the IU Golf Course. Admission is free to the general public. Live stats and results can be found by logging onto iuhoosiers.com and clicking on the `Live Scoring' link on the right-hand side of the page.
