April 7, 2008

CARMEL, Ind. -- Northwestern sits in seventh-place heading into the final round of the Indiana Invitational. The `Cats had an impressive showing through the first round at Crooked Stick Golf Course, shooting a 298 through the first 18 holes, good enough for fourth-place. But a 308 in round two dropped the Wildcats (+30) back to seventh entering the final round.

Junior Jennifer Hong (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy) once again has been the top performer for Northwestern, shooting an even-par 72 in round one and a two-over 74 in round two to sit in ninth place after day one. It was the second time in as many tournaments that Hong has shot an even-par round, accomplishing the feat in the second round of the Mountain View Collegiate on March 29. Senior Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) is five shots behind Hong and in a tie for 24th-place.

Senior Katie Trachok (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) put together a 75-78 through the first two rounds and sits two strokes back of Johnston in a tie for 32nd-place. Freshmen Kelsey Lindenschmidt (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and Rebecca Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) shot identical 77-79 rounds and are currently tied for 45th-place at plus-12.

Sixth-ranked Purdue is running away with the tournament, as the Boilermakers are at -15 entering the final round, 29 strokes better than second-place UNLV. Purdue's Junthima Gulyanamitta is the overall leader at nine-under par, followed by teammates Maria Hernandez (-3) and Christel Boeljon (-2) in second and third. Ohio State (+19) and Illinois (+24) sit third and fourth in the team standings, while the host Hoosiers are tied with Texas for fifth-place at +26, four strokes ahead of the Wildcats. Michigan (+32), Oregon (+34) and Ball State (+35) round out the top-10.

The final round of competition gets underway Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Live stats of the Indiana Invitational are available at golfstat.com.