University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Penn State for Big Ten Championships
4/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
THIS WEEK: The Minnesota women’s golf team heads to State College, Pa. this weekend for the 2008 Big Ten Championships. The Gophers finished 11th in last years event in East Lansing, Mich.
The Gophers have garnered 15 top-five finishes throughout the history of the Big Ten Championships, including a first place finish in the 1989 Championships. Minnesota also won a share of the Big Ten title in the spring of 1978.
THE FIELD: The field for the 2008 Big Ten Championships includes a pair of teams that are ranked in the top 20 nationally, according to the latest Golfweek polls. Purdue comes into the event as the No. 6 ranked team in the nation. Michigan State, the defending Big Ten Champs, is currently ranked No. 16. The Boilermakers finished second a season ago.
Individually, the Big Ten boasts four of the top 25 golfers in the nation, led by Purdue’s Maria Hernandez. Hernandez, the No. 8 ranked individual, finished fourth in 2007. Michigan State’s Sara Brown, ranked No. 15, finished sixth last year and Purdue’s Christel Boeljon, ranked 19th, finished second. Yet another Boilermaker, Maude Aimee Leblanc, is the 25th ranked golfer in the nation.
THE GOPHERS: The Golden Gophers lineup will consist of freshman Michelle Edlin, Mary Narzisi, Teresa Puga and Samantha Sommers and juniors Paige Bromen and Young Na Lee. Lee is the only Gopher that has participated in the Big Ten Championships, having finished in a tie for 21st place as a sophomore and 62nd as a freshman.
Two of the four freshman in the lineup, Puga and Narzisi, have played in all six spring events for the Gophers, the only two players on the roster to do so. They are neck-and-neck for the Minnesota lead in with a 77.9 and 78.2 stroke average, respectively. Lee and Sommers have played in five of the six events and hold averages of 79.5 and 80.4.
LADY BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL RECAP: Gopher freshman Samantha Sommers bettered her second round score by nine strokes and helped Minnesota move up one spot to finish the Lady Buckeye Invitational in 11th place with a score of 963.
Sommers posted the lowest Gopher score for the weekend with a 21-over 237 and finished in a four-way tie for 25th. Fellow Gopher freshman Teresa Puga and Mary Narzisi finished 32nd and 35th, respectively, while junior Young Na Lee finished in a tie for 53rd.
Players Mentioned
