SAN ANTONIO -- Alli Reily,
Romane Lacoste and
Mary Kerr all finished in the top-10, and No. 29-ranked Midwestern State placed third at the Rattler Invitational. The Mustangs finished behind No. 4-ranked Dallas Baptist and No. 20-ranked St. Mary's, which hosted the 54-hole tournament at Dominion Country Club.
Midwestern State was 13-over 301 in the final round to finish the tournament at 36-over 900 — 10 strokes better than fourth-place UT Tyler, which is ranked No. 7 in the nation.
Dallas Baptist won the tournament with a 2-over 866, finishing 23 strokes better than St. Mary's.
Ella Cheek of Dallas Baptist, ranked No. 4 in the nation, won the individual title by 12 strokes. The junior from Sachse, Texas, opened with a 7-under 65 in the first round, and she shot 5-under 67 in her final round on Tuesday. Cheek finished at 14-under 202, earning a 12-stroke victory over Taylor Wilczek of St. Mary's.
Reilly started 4-over par through her first three holes of the tournament, but the senior from Pottsboro, Texas, kept her composure and tied for fifth place on the individual leaderboard. Reilly shot even-par in the final round with three birdies and tied with Arnie Taguines of UT Tyler at 7-over 223 for 54 holes, finishing two strokes behind Sidney Robertson and Madison Ude of Dallas Baptist, who tied for third place.
Lacoste started the event with a 7-over 79 but improved in each of the next two rounds. The junior from France carded a 2-over 74 in the second round, and she tied with Ellen Spigner of Arkansas Tech for the second-best final round in the 88-player field with a 1-under 71. Lacoste tied for seventh with Susana Granados Carrion of Washburn at 8-over 224.
Kerr was in a four-way for ninth place with Brielle Burns and Manon Veret of St. Mary's and Spigner. Kerr carded a 1-under 71 in the second round and was just 2-over par through 16 holes of her final round but finished 6-over 78 for a three-round total of 9-over 225.
Kodi Nolen tied for 20th after shooting 8-over 80 in the final round to finish the event at 14-over 230.
Kaetie Samuels, competing as an individual, was also in the 10-way tie for 20th place after her best round of the event — shooting 2-over 74 on the final day with an eagle on the par 5, 722-yard seventh hole.
Emme Darnold was also competing as an individual and finished in a five-way for 32nd place at 17-over 233. The freshman from Andrews, Texas, opened the event on Monday with a 4-over 76 in the first round, but she closed the tournament on Tuesday with an 8-over 80.
Madison Wert shot 9-over 81 in the final round and finished in a three-way tie for 52nd place at 22-over 238.
Midwestern State shot 8-under on the par 5s at Dominion Country Club — second-best among the 17 schools in the field. Only DBU was better on the four longest holes at 9-under par.
The Mustangs finished with 34 birdies, which was fourth most in the tournament, and they tied for third with 152 pars. DBU had 50 birdies to lead the field, and St. Mary's had 156 pars — two more than DBU and four more than MSU and UT Tyler.
Midwestern State will not tee it up in tournament action again until March 23, when it competes at the Hardscrabble Invitational in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
-- MSUMustangs.com --