LEXINGTON, Ky. - Middle Tennessee women's golf earned its second Top 3 team finish of the year on Sunday as the team cruised to a 2-under par 286 in the final round to finish 5-over par (295-288-286=869) at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
The 18-hole total for the Blue Raiders ranked as the fourth-best round of the week at University Club of Kentucky and was also the squad's fourth round of par or better this season. MT finished nine strokes back of runner-up Penn State and 11 strokes back of host and team champion Kentucky while besting in-state rival Memphis by five strokes.
Senior Hanley Long continued her outstanding play as a 3-under par 213 placed her in the Top 5 for the fourth time in her last five competitions. Not far behind her for the Blue Raiders were sisters Caroline (+1) and Catherine (+2) Caudill, who finished tied for 11th and tied for 14th, respectively.
Sophomore Sophie Burks used a strong final round of 1-under 71 to move up 11 spots in the last 18 holes and into a tie for 39th.
MT continues to post strong finishes early in the year despite a challenging schedule, following up a second place finish at Tennessee and impressive comeback performance at Vanderbilt with the Top 3 finish at Kentucky.
NOTABLES
- Middle Tennessee's fourth round of par or better this season puts the 2018-19 squad tied for second in program history in team rounds of par or better in a single season just four tournaments into the campaign
- Senior Hanley Long continued an impressive streak with her fifth consecutive Top 10 finish, four of which have seen her earn a Top 5 spot
- Long's sixth career Top 5 finish moves her into a tie for fourth most in Blue Raider history
- Freshman Catherine Caudill's two rounds of par or better this week give her four on the season, tied for the fourth most ever by a Middle Tennessee freshman
- Sophomore Caroline Caudill's 54-hole total of 1-over 217 matched her career low
- Middle Tennessee led the field in Par 3 scoring (+2, 3.03) and total pars (179) on the week
QUOTABLES
"We put together a really great overall team performance this week in Lexington and Hanley had another great tournament and Top 5 finish. Caroline was very solid this week as well and just barely missed a Top 10 finish. It was hard for us to make a move though when Penn State was making so many birdies, but everyone stepped up today and we improved as a team each day of this tournament. I'm proud of the effort of everyone and I believe more great things are coming." - Head Coach Chris Adams
WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Raiders finish off the fall season at Mississippi State, teeing off in the Magnolia Invitational at Old Waverly on Sunday.