WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Mary Kerr was one of seven players to finish the first two rounds of the Midwestern State Invitational at Wichita Falls Country Club under par, and the junior from Friendswood, Texas, is tied for fifth place on the player leaderboard at 1-under 143. No. 23-ranked Midwestern State is sixth on the team leaderboard at 33-over 609.
No. 1-ranked Dallas Baptist has a 24-stroke lead entering the final round at 14-under 562. The Patriots shot 16-under 272 in the second round and have three of the top four players on the player leaderboard.
Chloe Sirkin of DBU is tied with her teammate Madison Ude for the lead at 6-under 138 through the first 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament. Ella Cheek of DBU is tied for third place with Tasnim Smaili of West Texas A&M at 2-under 142. Mia Hammerschmid of WT and Kerr are tied for fifth place, while Falyn Lackey of Western New Mexico and Elle Pistana of DBU are tied for seventh place at even par.
West Texas A&M is in second place at 10-over 586 and St. Mary's is in third place at 11-over 587. UT Dallas is 17 strokes behind the Rattlers in fourth place, and Southeastern Oklahoma is four strokes behind the Comets and four strokes ahead of the Mustangs in fifth place.
Kerr shot 4-under 68 in the second round with just one bogey and five birdies. Kerr had two birdies in the morning session and finished the opening round at 3-over 75. She birdied the 431-yard, par-5 No. 6 hole in both rounds.
Kinley Pessel, a senior from Marshall, Texas, is playing as an individual and sits in a four-way tie for ninth place in the 87-player field at 2-over 146. Pessel had three consecutive birdies in the first round on her way to an even-par 72. She had two more birdies in the second round and shot 2-over 74.
Romane Lacoste is in a four-way tie for 20th place at 7-over 151. The senior from France carded 28 pars through 36 holes and is tied with Sirkin and Ude for the tournament lead in pars. Lacoste birdied the 132-yard, par-3 No. 2 hole in the first round on her way to a 2-over 74.
Emme Darnold is in a three-way tie for 40th place at 13-over 157. Darnold had two birdies in each round on Monday. She opened with an 8-over 80 and shot 5-over 77 during the afternoon session.
Madison Wert birdied the 303-yard, par-4 No. 12 hole in each round and had two birdies in her second round on her way to a 3-over 75. The senior from Roanoke, Texas, is in a five-way tie for 52nd place at 16-over 160.
Samantha Truong birdied once in each round. She birdied the 489-yard, par-5 No. 15 hole in her opening round. In the second round, Truong birdied the 430-yard, par-5 No. 3 hole. The sophomore from Pearland, Texas, is in a six-way tie for 65th place at 19-over 163.
Kaetie Samuels is competing as an individual and had a birdie on each side during the second round, when she shot 5-over 77. Samuels opened the day with a 12-over 84 and is in a five-way tie for 57th place at 17-over 161.
The 15-team field returns to Wichita Falls Country Club for the final round on Tuesday morning.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
