McLean County Times

NORMAL, Ill. – For the third consecutive round at the 2024 Redbird Invitational, the Illinois State Redbirds achieved the lowest team score in the field, securing their home tournament victory by 35 strokes and setting a school record with a score of 849. This performance surpassed the previous team tournament mark by eight strokes.

The fall Redbird Invitational championship is ISU's first since 2014. The last Illinois State fall home tournament medalist honor was also in 2014 when Brianna Cooper won the individual title.

Last season, the team set a school record with a tournament score of 857 at The Clash at Boulder Creek on October 22-24 before breaking that mark this weekend. The program has recorded 16 of its top 17 team scores since 2020. ISU's win margin of 35 is tied for the 45th-largest victory margin in NCAA history.

Individually, Jinyoung Yun and Morgan Jones tied for medalist honors, with Yun securing individual victory in a one-hole playoff. Both had a tournament-winning score of 209, which is the second-lowest tournament score in school history. Freshman golfer Jessica Jolly shot a one-under 215 for the tournament, marking the lowest tournament score ever by an ISU freshman. Classmate Elise Fennell shot a 217, also lower than the previous freshman record of 218 set by eventual ISU Percy Family Athletic Hall of Fame member Samantha Richdale.

The Redbirds' score of 849 is also a Redbird Invitational record, surpassing Eastern Kentucky's previous record of 861 set in 2021. Little Rock finished second overall with an 884, which ranks as the tenth-best team score in tournament history. Other schools participating included Butler (890), Bradley (899), Northern Illinois (901), South Dakota (901), Northern Iowa (911), Drake (911), Loyola Chicago (911), Evansville (917), Illinois Wesleyan (937), Indiana State (941), IU Indy (949), Illinois Wesleyan "B" (953), and Valparaiso (975).

Yun's round included six birdies and four bogeys, finishing two-under with a round score of 70. Jones had four birdies and three over-par holes for her even-par round of 72, including birdying her final two holes to force her way into the tiebreaker.

Jolly finished fourth individually with one-under par after completing her day with par and birdie to finish even par on her final round. Fennell tied for sixth place after finishing even par for her third round with three birdies and twelve pars. Alex Sparrow went three-over par for her final round; her total tournament score of 223 ties for eighth-lowest by an ISU freshman.

Playing as an individual, Lory Paradis tied for twenty-third place after finishing her final round three-over par with two birdies and eleven pars. Dani Grace Schrock finished two strokes behind Paradis in twenty-ninth place with a four-over final-round score that included one birdie and thirteen pars during her last round. Sophomore Reagan Kennedy ended up tied for thirty-ninth overall among ninety-three golfers with an overall score of231 after completing her final-round at seventy-eight.

The Redbirds will next compete on September23-24 at the Johnie Imes Invitational hosted by Universityof Missouri.

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