The Salukis finished in the top five for the eighth consecutive tournament as they took fifth place in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.

Senior Shaina Rennegarbe had another strong outing and scored 8 over par in the two-day tournament. Her 72 score on the second day was a tournament low, and her 150 tied for second overall and is a new career best. Her recent play earned her the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week title.

Coach Alexis Mihelich said she is optimistic about Rennegarbe and the team’s advances.

Advertisement

“Shaina played a great tournament, especially in the second round,” she said. “She has turned a corner and is on her way to a great finish to an already fantastic career. Hopefully, we’ll get all our pieces headed in the same direction, and we can finish this season strong as a team.”

Rennegarbe’s score makes it back-to-back tournaments with a par under 10 and three consecutive tournaments as it placed in the top 15 golfers overall.

Freshman Amy Lee had a strong first day scoring a team-low 77, but a lightning storm canceled the first day with three to six holes left depending on the golfer’s pairing. The break in action forced officials to add the holes to the tournament’s following day. Lee said the pace and weather change was difficult to adapt to, and it affected her play.

“The first day was pretty wet and gloomy,” Lee said. “The greens were really fast, and it made it really hard to stop the ball, and on the second day nothing seemed to work out for me. I was hitting my drives OK, but my second shots were regulation shots and my putting was, well – it wasn’t my day.”

Despite the setback, Lee finished tied for 23rd overall, her third top- 25 finish in a row. Junior Cassie Rushing also placed well in the tournament and scored a 158, which tied for 12th overall but saw her season average rise slightly. Since winning the Blue Raider Invitational before the season break, she has averaged 16 over par in the last three tournaments, which ties her season-high for a tournament this season. She still leads the team in scoring average with 77.2, which ranks top 10 in the MVC.

Junior Ashleigh Rushing is not far behind her sister’s standings, as she ranks 12th in the MVC with a 78.45 season average. Rennegarbe’s play in the past few tournaments has made her the fourth Saluki to place in the top 20 in the MVC in score average, the most of any conference team. She said she is glad to see her swing finally coming together.

“I feel like my swing has always been really consistent,” she said. “I’ve worked so hard, and I have been so close but never really quite pulled through (until now). I think it’s nice that I can finally have the confidence to know that I can do well in a tournament.”

Advertisement*

The Salukis have placed no lower than fifth in eight of their nine tournaments, they finished seventh of the 15 participating teams. SIU’s average scoring places them among the top of the conference with an 311.90 average score. The score is just two points lower than the MVC leader Missouri State 310.63 average. The Salukis are now third in the MVC.

SIU will play its only season home tournament Sunday and Monday in the Saluki Invitational. Renngarbe said as a senior, she would like to end her career strong for the home crowd.

“It will be really exciting,” she said. “I have been playing there since I was in high school for state tournaments. I hope a lot of people come out to watch us as a team because we are really good, and when we come together and we play well we ‘go low.’”