Women’s Golf goes low on day 2, rallies for 3rd-place finish at Olivet (Mich.) Invitational
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — Sophomore Grace Honigford (West Chester/Lakota East) carded a 80-79—159 as the Ohio Northern women's golf team rallied for a third-place finish out of 16 teams at the Olivet (Mich.) Kyle Campbell Invitational on Saturday at The Medalist Golf Club.
The Polar Bears (17-2 overall) carded a 340-321—661 on the par-72 course.
The 321 was the lowest team score of the day on Saturday and tied for the second-lowest team score in ONU history.
Hope (Mich.) won the event with 315-323—638, while St. Mary's (Ind.) placed second with a 324-336—660.
ONU sat in seventh place after Friday's first round but got scores in the 70s from three golfers on Saturday to move up the standings.
Freshman Rhianna Firmstone (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) joined Honigford in shooting a second-round 79 while junior Isabella Orofino (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) bested them both with a career-low 78.
"This was a great weekend for the program," ONU head coach Chad Bucci said. "Coming to a course that we haven't seen and to have the low round today was our goal. I told the team, 'Let's win the day and see what happens. A total team effort, I'm not a fan of tagging my players as my number 1 through 5. Give me four good scores and no matter what, always compete.'"
Honigford tied for sixth place out of 102 golfers while Firmstone tied for 15th with a 166, Orofino tied for 25th with a 168, freshman Amelia Burger (Centerville) tied for 29th with a 170 and junior Torrie Smith (Kokomo, Ind./Western) tied for 57th with a 179.
Sydney Weiner, of DePauw (Ind.), topped the individual standings with a 153.
ONU will return to action on Sept. 17-18 for the two-day Heidelberg Fall Invitational at Fostoria Country Club.
Team Standings
1. Hope (Mich.) 638, 2. St. Mary's (Ind.) 660, 3. Ohio Northern 661, 4. Westminster (Pa.) 663, 5. DePauw (Ind.) 669, 6. Adrian (Mich.) 673, 7. Aquinas (Mich.) 674, 8. Trine (Ind.) 695, 9. Calvin (Mich.) 697, 10. Olivet (Mich.) 703, 11. Alma (Mich.) 714, 12. Cornerstone (Mich.) 722, 13. Cleary (Mich.) 723, 14. Albion (Mich.) 730, 15. Siena Heights (Mich.) 739, 16. Lourdes 746.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Sydney Weiner (DePauw) 74-79—153, t2. Erika Hoover (Westminster) 78-77—155, t2. Chandler Sjoerdsma 74-81—155, 4. Grace VanDellen (Hope) 76-81—157, 5. Darby Scott (Kalamazoo) 78-80—158.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
t6. Grace Honigford 80-79—159, Rhianna Firmstone 87-79—166, Isabella Orofino 90-78—168, Amelia Burger 85-85—170, Torrie Smith 88-91—179.
Other Ohio Northern Individual Results
t46. Karlee Staugler 88-89—177, t68. Meghan Utterdyke 90-93—183, 99. Allie Honigford 108-106—214.