Women’s golf heads to Midwest championship

By: Ian Van Anden
Sports Editor

The Monmouth College women’s golf team had struggled mightily in the 2006 season. The Scots have finished in the bottom half of every tournament they have entered this year. Despite their struggles, there have been several bright spots for MC.

Sophomore Heidi Hartshorne has been one of those bright spots. Hartshorne has rebounded from being a non-traveling member of the team to the team’s number one golfer. Hartshorne had her breakout performance at the Knox College Invitational. She helped carry the team to an 11th place finish out of 16. She was Monmouth’s top performer, placing in a tie for 42nd and shooting a 96.

Hartshorne also performed well in the UW-Whitewater Fall Invitational, where she shot 196 in two rounds and tied for 63rd. In the Scots’ last tournament, the Millikin University Fall Invitational, Hartshorne was third on the team, shooting 192 in two rounds and tying for 52nd.

The future does look to be brighter for the Scots because the team is dominated by youth. Along with Hartshorne, two freshmen finished in the team’s top three at the Millikin University Fall Invitational. Megan Pickrel and Juli Brackmann both have turned it on toward the end of the season.

Another freshman, Erica Lange, has also had her bright spots during the season. Lange has been a mainstay on the Scots’ traveling team and had two solid performances at the Knox College Invitational and the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic.

Coach Molly McNamara will carry this young team to the Midwest Conference Championships this weekend, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7. The team’s performance could prove to be critical to the All-Sports Award standings for the Midwest Conference later in the year.