Falcons, Madry Claim Championships At Shirley Spork Invitational In Historic Fashion

Tuesday, October 9

Ypsilanti, MI

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Shirley Spork Invitational

Falcons, Madry Claim Championships At Shirley Spork Invitational In Historic Fashion

October 09, 2018 | Women's Golf

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Results
Live Scoring / GolfStat.com
Championship Ceremony Pictures (Steve King)

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University women' golf team ran away from the field on Tuesday (Oct. 9) to claim the team championship at the second-annual Shirley Spork Invitational. Junior Jessica Madry, who was tied for third heading into the day, shot a career-low 70 to earn the first individual title of her collegiate career. The Eastern Michigan-hosted event was played at the Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

It was a complete and historic team effort from the Bowling Green Falcons. BGSU's 36-hole team score of 592 set a new school record, breaking the previous record of 594, which was set at the 2013-14 Great Smokies Intercollegiate. Those two scores are BGSU's only sub-600 team scores over 36 holes. Furthermore, the Falcons' 295 on the day is tied for the fifth-best team score across 18 holes in school history, and the best since carding a 295 at the 2015-16 MAC Championships.

The team championship for Bowling Green is the 24th in school history, and 11th under current head coach Stephanie Young. Bowling Green has now won at least one team title in seven-straight seasons.

Bowling Green entered today with a five-shot lead, and ended up finishing the tournament 23 strokes ahead of the second-place finisher. Cleveland State posted a 615 to finish in second, while Oakland finished slightly behind at 617.

Madry was simply phenomenal across all 36 holes of golf. The junior entered the tournament with an 18-hole low of 72. She registered back-to-back career lows on her way to the title. After an opening-round 71 (-1), Madry carded a final-round 70 (-2) to notch a three-stroke victory. Madry's two-day total of 141 bested Elayna Bowser's (Loyola) 144. Madry was the only player in the 62-player field to shoot below par on the week, let alone three-under par.

51326

Additionally, Madry's 70 was the lowest score on the day, and tied for the lowest mark over the entire tournament. The native of Houston, Texas led the entire field in birdies (8) and par-three scoring (2.63). Madry's title marks the 24th time that a Falcon has claimed the individual championship at an event.

Bowling Green has now posted a team and individual title at the same tournament during the fall season in consecutive years. Last year, BGSU won the team title at the KZoo Classic (Oct. 2-3, 2017), while Erin Fahey took home the individual championship in a one-hole playoff to claim the first title of her career.

Bowling Green's championship lineup saw two other Falcons finish inside the top 10. Katie Whitfield (74-75—149) finished tied fifth, marking the best finish of her young career, while Julia Durkin (73-79—152) finished tied 10th, which represents her second top-10 finish as a Falcon. Sammi Blackburn finished tied for 13th, carding four birdies on the day to earn the best finish of her BGSU career. Erin Fahey went one-under on the back nine today to finish tied for 21st. Competing as an individual, Nichole Cox improved her score from Round 1 by three strokes today.

In last season's inaugural Shirley Spork Invitational, Bowling Green finished second out of 10 schools. By going 4-0 against MAC competition in back-to-back seasons, the Falcons are now 8-0 versus MAC institutions at the Shirley Spork Invitational all-time.

COACH YOUNG QUOTE
"Coach King and I are so proud of our team. They showed a relentless toughness and focus this week. We are honored to win the Shirley Spork Invitational. Shirley is an amazing woman and golf legend with BGSU ties. She has been a mentor and friend of our program and it truly is an honor to win this for her.

"Congratulations to Jessica Madry for winning her first collegiate event! She is such an outstanding young woman and loves her team. She has always been motivated about our team mindset of everything we do all being bigger than yourself."

FALCON LEADERBOARD
1. Jessica Madry (71-70—141)
T5. Katie Whitfield (74-75—149)
T10. Julia Durkin (73-79—152)
T13. Sammi Blackburn (80-73—153)
T21. Erin Fahey (79-77—156)
T55. Nichole Cox (85-82—167)

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Bowling Green (297-295—592)
2. Cleveland State (302-313—615)
3. Oakland (306-311—617)
4. Central Michigan (312-308—620)
T5. Loyola (308-313—621)
T5. Western Michigan (304-317—621)
7. Eastern Michigan (310-317—627)
8. Ohio (314-315—629)
9. Dayton (321-314—635)
10. Purdue Fort Wayne (327-327—654)

UP NEXT
• Bowling Green will wrap up its fall schedule next week at the Mid-American Conference Fall Preview (Oct. 14-15). The event is being hosted by Central Michigan in Noblesville, Indiana.
• The MAC Championships (April 19-21) will also be played at the same location and course.

51324