Ithaca Claims Jack Leaman Championship At Amherst
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Ithaca College women's golf team won the Jack Leaman Invitational championship hosted by Amherst College on Sunday with a second-round score of 326 for a tournament total of 644. The elite tournament featured many of the top teams in the northeast, including nationally-ranked No. 4 Williams and No. 25 Middlebury. Ithaca and Williams finished the two-round tournament with identical team scores of 644, but Ithaca won on tiebreaker criteria as the fifth player in the Ithaca lineup scored better than the fifth player for Williams.
The Bombers defended their tournament championship, which they captured in 2013 with a total of 642. Ithaca placed first in a field of 15 teams. Ithaca's three upperclassmen finished in the top-10 among individuals, as 87 players competed. The first round was played at Hickory Ridge Golf Course and Sunday's second-round was at The Orchards. Ithaca entered Sunday's round with a six-shot advantage over Williams.
Sharon Li led Ithaca with a second-place overall finish. She shot 2-over-par 76 in the first round and followed that up with a 77 on Sunday. Li was in second place alone, four shots back of the tournament medalist. Ithaca's
Kelsey Baker and
Amanda Failla were among a four-way tie for sixth place. Baker posted 82 on Sunday to go with a 78 in the opening round for a total of 160. Failla's second-round score of 83 combined with a 77 on Saturday.
Ithaca's freshman lineup members,
Lisa Calcasola and
Kimberley Wong, were the difference on Sunday. Each of them scored 84 with identical front-nine and back-nine scores of 42 on each side. Calcasola improved by three strokes over Saturday's round and Wong improved by five strokes over the opening round.
Nazareth's two-day score of 802 was two strokes better than Hamilton.
Junior
Jennifer Lachell followed up Saturday's 88 with a score of 87 Sunday for a two-day total of 175 to finish in a tie for 40th place individually. Nazareth's other competitors were senior
Anne Czelusniak (94-102--196); sophomore
Sarah Gosek (102-103--205); and senior
Alyssa Moffat (110-116--226).
Complete Tournament Team and Individual Scoring (.pdf)