McLean County Times

The NCAA has announced that the Illinois State women's golf team will compete in the Columbus, Ohio Regional, which will be hosted by Ohio State University on their Scarlet Course from May 5-7. This marks the Redbirds' 10th appearance in an NCAA Regional and their second appearance on this specific course since they first qualified in 2009.

The 12-team field includes Illinois State, ranked 77th nationally, along with several other prominent teams. Among their competitors are Arkansas, ranked 2nd nationally, LSU at 10th, Ohio State at 14th, Kansas at 23rd, Houston at 26th, SMU tied at 35th, UNLV also tied at 35th, Illinois at 47th, Kent State at 52nd, Xavier at 79th, and Oakland, ranked 202nd.

This season, Illinois State's team secured their regional spot by winning the 2025 MVC Championship with a significant lead of 31 strokes, which is the fifth-largest victory margin in MVC history. They achieved a tournament-record score of 874, surpassing the previous record by 14 strokes.

Led by MVC Golfer of the Year Jinyoung Yun, who averages 72.0 strokes per round, the team has equaled a school record with four tournament wins this season. Other standout players include MVC Newcomer of the Year Morgan Jones and MVC Freshman of the Year Elise Fennell, both of whom average 73.1 strokes per round.

For more information, fans are encouraged to visit GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App, which offer tickets, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, and more.