Lake City, Minn.--Hope Keaney (Fy./San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Catholic) posted a two-day total of 161, grabbing a share of 11th place, and three other Knights posted scores under 85 in the final round as Carleton College moved up two slots to sixth at its own Division III Midwest Classic.
The Knights tallied a two-day total of 666, the second-best in school history, following a final-round 329, the second-best single-round tally in school history. Both totals trailed last weekend’s record-setting effort in the Wartburg Invitational. In three events this season, the Knights have posted three of the six best 36-hole totals and four of the top eight 18-hole totals.
Louise Buckler (Jr./Blaine, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and Laura Knutson (Jr./Edina, Minn.) finished at 23-over par 167, making it into the top 25, and Traci Johnson (So./Lakeville, Minn./North) rebounded from a rough first round to post a final-round 83 for a 171 total.
“Again, we played real solid all weekend,” Carleton head coach Eric Sieger said. “We struggled a bit at times, but we were able to minimize the damage, and we especially played well on the back nine all weekend.”
Third-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College pulled away from the rest of the field with a final-round 310 for a 628 total, only four shots off the tournament record, also held by Gustavus from 2005. First-round leader #19 Wartburg College (Iowa) finished second at 648, followed by St. Benedict at 650 and St. Olaf at 651. #15 St. Thomas ended fifth at 659, six ahead of Carleton. The Knights ended up five shots clear of Simpson, 11 ahead of #23 UC-Santa Cruz and 16 ahead of NAIA Viterbo University.
The Gusties’ Kali Griggs and Katie Schenfeld shared tournament medalist honors with Sarah Hupperts of St. Benedict at 10over par 154.
The Knights have one more tournament left before the MIAC Championships, as they’ll play at the St. Benedict Invitational next weekend. This weekend’s event featured all 10 MIAC squads, and the conference tournament is shaping up as a fierce battle among the top five schools.
“I think Gustavus has shown to be the cream of the crop, but after that I think St. Benedict, St. Olaf, St. Thomas and ourselves are very evenly matched,” Sieger said. “We just need to have the top of our line-up go a little lower, and they’re capable of doing just that.”
