The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s golf team improved by 16 strokes, but could not move up in the team standings as the Cru finished in 14th place at the DIII National Preview Monday in Houston. UMHB served as host the tournament as the Cru played its second event of the fall.
UMHB fired a 345-329=674 team total to take 14th place, just one stroke behind Huntingdon College’s 13th place score of 335-338=673. Grinnell College won the tournament after firing a 306-307=613 to edge out George Fox University (308-308=616) by three strokes. DePauw University took third place with a 313-305=618. Rhodes College shot 305 to finish in fourth place and University of Redlands rounded out the top five in the tournament with a 315-320=635. An 18-team field that included eight qualifiers from the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championships competed in the event.
Olivia Robinson had the low individual finish for the Cru women. Robinson fired an 84-80=164 to finish in a tie for 42nd place. Cassidy Rawls shot 86-81=167 for UMHB to finish in a tie for 49th and Victoria Gleghorn fired an 86-83=169 and tied for 56th. Macy Mitchell (91-85) and Annie Hasselbach (89-87) both shot 176’s to share 75th place, Taylor Abernathy posted 89-92=181 to tie for 87th, Jade Ming recorded a 94-88=182 to take 89th and Annika Criss finished with a 100-92=192 to finish 97th. DePauw’s Larisa Luloff won individual medalist honors after shooting 74-73=147 to edge Grinnell’s Vrishali Sinha (75-74=149) by two strokes.
The two-day, 36-hole tournament was played on a par-72, 5,871-yard layout at Bay Oaks Golf Club in Houston. Bay Oaks will also serve as the host site for the 2019 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf National Championship. The UMHB women will return to action with the Lady Crusader Invitational. That tournament will be played October 1-2 on the Lakes Course at Squaw Valley Golf Course in Glen Rose.
