AXTELL, NEB. – On a history-making day,
Lexi Hanson won her first-ever tournament and led the University of Sioux Falls Women's Team to a second-place finish with a school record mark of 597 (309-288) at the highly competitive MIAA Invite which concluded on Wednesday (Sept. 25) at Awarii Dunes.
After opening at 309 on Tuesday, the Cougars shattered the school-record for a round with a 288 and beat their previous two-round total by 15 shots. The Cougars had set the mark of 612 at the Central Region Preview in Blue Springs, Mo, on Sept. 3-4. But today with Hanson winning medalist honors for just the second time in school history (
Tavia Rutherford, 149, Concordia University Invite), the Cougars finished at 597 and tied with Rogers State for second (597-310-287) and 10 shots from team champion Central Missouri at 587 (296-291).
With the 288, USF shot the second-best round of the tourney (Rogers State, 287, day 2). After USF, Central Oklahoma was fourth at 606 (305-301) and Nebraska-Kearney, fifth (609 – 308-301). USF was among 12 teams competing at the tournament but the only NSIC rep.
The performance today, which included round career-bests from four golfers (Hanson,
Lexi Jonas,
Sydney Hubbard and
Alex Nutter) involved a team which cut 21 shots off their day one total. And, as a result, USF Head Coach
Tavia Rutherford was very proud and pleased with her squad.
"I am so incredibly proud of this team," said Rutherford. "They set out to make a move today and that is exactly what they did. Taking home the individual medalist (
Lexi Hanson) and finishing tied for second as a team in a field of strong regional competition is phenomenal," said Rutherford, whose team moved from fourth to a tie for second.
"Their hard work has started to pay off and I know more great things will come from this team. We are excited to compete at home this weekend and to continue to break records moving forward," Rutherford added.
Hanson, who carded eight birdies (fourth-best in the tournament), an eagle, and had 22 pars (tied for 6
th in the tourney), opened with a 74 but had a remarkable performance on day two of the MIAA Invite. By carding a career-low 67, the Chanhassen, Minn., native finished with the program's best individual round and her 141 total was the best-two round total in USF DII program-history. In fact, she beat her own previous mark of 149 (74-75) at the Ramada Mustang Invite on Sept. 22-23, 2018 and that of Rutherford who as a former USF standout had a 149 at the Concordia University Invite on Sept. 13-14, 2014. Hanson had owned the previous best round of 71 (UNK Spring Invite on March 26, 2017) but today shot a 5-under par round of 67.
As remarkable as Hanson performed, her teammate and junior
Lexi Jonas had her best performance at USF. If not for Hanson, she would have established a school record for the best two-round total. Jonas, of Hudson, Wis., set a career-low of 74 on day one and matched that total on day two with another 74 as she carded a career-best 148. With that mark, Jonas grabbed a top-10 finish as she tied for seventh. Like Hanson, Jonas had eight birdies and an eagle.
USF also had career-best rounds on day two from juniors
Sydney Hubbard and
Alex Nutter, who had 22 pars (6
th best at tourney) across two rounds. Hubbard finished at 156 and a tied for seventh overall. After opening at 82, Hubbard carded a 74 to establish her career-low round. Nutter opened with a 90 but came up huge for USF on day two with a career-low of 73 to finish at 163 and tied for 44
th. She was tied for 44
th with freshman
Maggie Veenendall, who had a 163 with rounds of 79 and 84.
Playing as an individual, freshman
Annie Balduzzi continued to exhibit remarkable play. She had a career-low of 9-over par 153 with rounds of 76 and 77. She bettered her previous two-round mark of 156 (81-75) on Sept. 16-17, 2019 at the Golden Bear Classic.
Next for USF will be competing at the Augustana Fall Invitational on Sept. 28-29 at the Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls.
