Lady Racers Second At OVC Championships-Yates Fourth

Consider round one, a success for the Murray State Lady Racer Golf squad at the O'Reilly's Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

“You can't win the OVC in the first round, but you can shoot yourself out of it,” Velvet Milkman, Murray State head coach said after the first round, played at Drake Creek GC in Ledbetter, Ky. “We stayed focused most of the day and turned in a good score.”

The Lady Racers indeed stayed focused and fired a first round 323 and stand only three shots behind leader Jacksonville State after 18 holes of the 54-hole championship event.

MSU is tied for second with Samford, while Austin Peay (331) is in fourth; Eastern Kentucky (333) is in fifth with Tennessee Tech (335) in sixth, with Eastern Illinois (345) in seventh and Tennessee State (380) in eighth.

Leading the way for Murray State was sophomore Bethany Yates with a 79, good for a tie for fourth place with Carrie Riordan of Eastern Illinois. The leader is Samford's Katelyn Stanier with a 75. Her teammate Kellie O'Connell and Jacksonville State's Manuela Tarazone are tied for second place with 78's.

MSU freshman Andrea Downer came home with an 80 and a spot in sixth place. Senior Christi Baron, MSU flashed the form that helped her to a fifth place finish a year ago in the OVC event with a first round 81 and a spot in eighth place. Freshman Megan McKinney's 83 put her in 15^th position, while Lauren Hughes is in 27^th place after an 87.

The Lady Racers start is similar to the one last year here when they fired a 314 and trailed eventual champ JSU by four shots.

“What we've got to do tomorrow is come back with the same type of effort we had today,” Milkman added. “This championship is a marathon and if you have a bad hole you've got to get back up and keep playing.”

The opening round was contested in better conditions than what this area saw over the weekend, but still it was a tough go for all of the teams as winds from 15-25 mph buffeted the course from the opening shot to the closing shot.

This is the second straight year that the OVC Women's Championship has been contested at Drake Creek GC. The course is playing to a par of 72.

Round two begins at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning with all teams beginning at the first tee. Admission is free and all golf fans are encouraged to attend.

OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROUND ONE RESULTS

finish top 20 schools scoreS
1 Jacksonville St. 320 320 +32
T2 Murray State Univ. 323 323 +35
T2 Samford University 323 323 +35
4 Austin Peay State U. 331 331 +43
5 Eastern Kentucky 333 333 +45
6 Tennessee Tech U. 335 335 +47
7 Eastern Illinois 345 345 +57
8 Tennessee State University 380 380 +92

finish top 20 players school scores
1 Katelyn Stanier Samford University 75 75 +3
T2 Kellie O'Connell Samford University 78 78 +6
T2 Manuela Tarazona Jacksonville St. 78 78 +6
T4 Carrie Riordan Eastern Illinois 79 79 +7
T4 Bethany Yates Murray State Univ. 79 79 +7
T6 Andrea Downer Murray State Univ. 80 80 +8
T6 Mercedes Huarte Jacksonville St. 80 80 +8
T8 Chrissi Baron Murray State Univ. 81 81 +9
T8 Beth Ann Burns Austin Peay State U. 81 81 +9
T8 Ashley Cox Jacksonville St. 81 81 +9
T8 Alexandra Espinosa Jacksonville St. 81 81 +9
T8 Rachel Montgomery Eastern Kentucky 81 81 +9
T13 Portia Abbott Jacksonville St. 82 82 +10
T13 Carla Hazelwood Tennessee Tech U. 82 82 +10
T15 Leslie Booth Eastern Kentucky 83 83 +11
T15 Staci Lynch Austin Peay State U. 83 83 +11
T15 Angie Manzitto Austin Peay State U. 83 83 +11
T15 Megan McKinney Murray State Univ. 83 83 +11
T15 Ashley Spangler Tennessee Tech U. 83 83 +11
T15 Maria Troche Samford University 83 83 +11
T15 Kelli Warner Eastern Kentucky 83 +11
T22 Monica Storey Austin Peay State U. 84 +12
T22 Madison Denman Tennessee Tech U. 84 +12
T24 Katie Taylor Tennessee Tech U. 86 +14
T24 Melissa Rosloniec Eastern Kentucky 86 +14
T24 Aubree Moore Eastern Kentucky 86 +14
T27 Caroline Herman Samford University 87 +15
T27 Courtney Warr Samford University 87 +15
T27 Lauren Hughes Murray State Univ. 87 +15
T30 Danielle Stewart Tennessee State University 88 +16
T30 Jaymie Voorhess Eastern Illinois 88 +16
T30 Katie Imburgia Eastern Illinois 88 +16
33 Diana Carson Tennessee Tech U. 89 +17
34 Chelsea Bach Eastern Illinois 90 +18
T35 Latoya Moppins Tennessee State University 96 +24
T35 Amy Simons Eastern Illinois 96 +24
37 Karyn Robinson Tennessee State University 97 +25
38 Amanda Rose Austin Peay State U. 98 +26
39 Mary Brigance Tennessee State University 99 +27
40 Genesis Fitzgerald Tennessee State University 106 +34

Murray State University Athletics

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