Xavier cracked 300 in each of the final two rounds on the
tough Dogwood and Magnolia nines at the Callawassie Island Golf Club in Okatie,
S.C. as the Musketeers cruised to a 14-shot victory in the Big East
Championship, which wrapped up Sunday.
Rain forced play to be suspended halfway through Friday’s
opening round and the teams came back Saturday morning and completed the
opening round and then played round 2.
Xavier grabbed the lead with an opening-round 306 and never
surrendered it with a pair of 298s Saturday afternoon and Sunday for a 38-over
902 total that gave the Musketeers the first conference championship in program
history.
Xavier’s Mikayla Fitzpatrick, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz.,
was equally dominant in claiming the individual title. Fitzpatrick had the low
round of the weekend, a 4-under 68 in Saturday’s second round, and closed with
a 1-over 73 for an even-par 216 total that gave her a runaway nine-shot
advantage over Seton Hall’s Lizzie Win, a junior from Sylvania, Ohio.
Two-time defending champion Georgetown, which inched within
seven shots of Xavier with a second-round 299, finished up with a 305 to earn
runnerup honors at 52-over 916.
Seton Hall, runnerup to Georgetown a year ago, finished two
shots behind the Hoyas in third place with a 54-over 918 total, its best 54-hole
score at Callawassie Island. The Pirates posted a 311 in their interrupted
opening round and trailed Xavier by 10 shots before closing with a 304.
St. John’s finished fourth at 939, despite posting the best
team round of the weekend in Sunday’s final round with a 4-over 292. Creighton
took fifth with a 958 total after a final round of 316 and Butler was the last
of six at 991 after a final round of 327.
Backing up Fitzpatrick for Xavier was Mikayla Smith, a
senior from Appleton, Wis. who shared fourth place with two Seton Hall players,
junior Maddie Sager, the 2015 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at Owen J.
Roberts, and Carolina Ronchel Salas, a junior from Spain, at 12-over 228. Smith
was one of four Xavier players to close with a 3-over 75 Sunday.
The Musketeers had four players inside the top eight as
Lyndsey Hunnell, a graduate student from Troutville, Va., and Andie Shukow, a
sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., finished tied for eighth at 230, each closing
with a 3-over 75.
Morgan Tinsley, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., rounded
out the Xavier lineup as she also closed with a 3-over 75 to finish alone in 16th
place at 237.
Seton Hall’s Win was within three shots of Fitzpatrick in
the individual chase after Win added a 1-over 73 to her opening-round 74. Win
closed with a 78, but still hung on for second place with a 9-over 225 total.
Georgetown’s Christina Parsells, a senior from
Bernardsville, N.J., finished alone in third place at 10-over 226. Parsells
matched par in Saturday’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 79 and finished
up with a 3-over 75.
Sager was Seton Hall’s medalist in Sunday’s final round with
a 1-over 73 as she landed on 12-over 228. She caught the worst of the rain and
wind that ultimately forced the opening round to be suspended and carded an 80
before bouncing back with a 3-over 75 Saturday afternoon.
Ronchel Salas closed with a solid 2-over 74 to get her share
of fourth place along with Sager and Xavier’s Smith at 228.
Georgetown’s Ashley Fitzgibbons, a junior from Sammamish,
Wash., finished alone in seventh place at 229. Fitzgibbons opened with a 3-over
75 and added a 76 before finishing up with a 78.
It was a tough weekend for Seton Hall sophomore Mia Kness,
the 2016 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Peters Township. Kness finished
alone in 21st place at 241. She opened with a 78 and added an 81
before finishing up with an 82.
Sarah Fourett, a freshman from Santa Maria, Calif., closed
with her best round of the weekend, a 79, to finish among the group tied for 25th
at 249.
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