Northwestern leads the women, Iowa the men at Big 10 tourneys

   The Purdue women fell out of the lead at the Big 10 Championship, but the Boilermakers, No. 35 in the latest Golfstat rankings, are still very much in the hunt for a conference title in a tightly bunched field.

   With August Kim, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla., still leading the way, Purdue carded a 3-over 291 in Saturday’s second round at The Fort Golf Resort in Indianapolis and sits in fourth place at 2-under 574 heading into Sunday’s final round.

   Northwestern, easily the highest-ranked team in the field at No. 7, took over the top spot, carding a 2-under 286 to stand at 6-under 570. The biggest move of the day was made by Ohio State, ranked 36^th, as the Buckeyes fired a 7-under 281 to move into second place at 4-under 572, two shots back of the Wildcats. Michigan, ranked 50^th, is fourth at 2-under 574 after a 3-over 291 Saturday.

   Rounding out the top five is Denise St. Pierre’s youthful Penn State team as the Nittany Lions matched par for the second straight day and are at even-par 576.

   Kim added a 1-under 71 over the 6,221-yard, par-71 Fort layout to her opening-round 69 and is tied for fourth at 4-under 140.

   Anna Appert Lund, Purdue’s senior leader from Sweden, had a 72 and is tied for 10^th at 2-under 142, Marta Martin, a sophomore from Spain, had a 73 and is tied for 16^th at even-par 144, Linn Andersson, a sophomore from Sweden, had a 75 and is tied for 51^st at 150, Covadonga SanJuan, a freshman from Spain had a 78 and is tied for 56^th at 151 and Ida Ayu Indira Melati Putri, a freshman from Bali, had a 75 and is tied for 62^nd at 153.

   Northwestern, bidding for its third Big 10 title in four years, was led by Stephanie Lau, a freshman from Fullerton, Calif. who added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 69 and is one of four players tied for second in the individual standings at 5-under 139.

   Among the other Wildcats, Hannah Kim, a sophomore from Chula Vista, Calif. and the reigning Big 10 Player of the Year, had a 72 and is tied for 13^th at 143, Kacie Komoto, a junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, had a 72 and is tied for 22^nd at 145, Janet Mao, a freshman from Johns Creek, Ga., had a 74 and is also tied for 22^nd at 145, Sarah Cho, a sophomore from San Diego, had a 72 and is tied for 29^th at 146, and Suchaya Tangkamoiprasert, a senior from Thailand, had a 73 and is tied for 41^st at 148.

That’s five players in the top 30, which is why Northwestern is so tough.

   Wisconsin’s Brooke Ferrell, a junior from Edgerton, Wis., cooled off from her opening-round 65, but maintained her hold on the top spot in the individual standings with an even-par 72 that left her two shots clear of the field at 7-under 137.

   Among the group tied for second with Northwestern’s Lau at 5-under 139 are Michigan’s Megan Kim, a sophomore from Redondo Beach, Calif. who had a 70, Rutgers’ Emily Mills, a sophomore from Colts Neck, N.J. who had a 72, and Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham, a sophomore for Maple Grove, Minn. who had one of the day’s two sub-70 rounds, a 3-under 69.

   Joining Purdue’s Kim in a tie for sixth at 4-under 140 was Penn State’s Lauren Waller, the Canon-McMillan product who has really had a terrific freshman season. Waller, who lost to Radnor’s Brynn Walker in a playoff for the PIAA Class AAA title in 2014, had her second straight 70.

   Ohio State’s surge up the team leaderboard was led by Jessica Porvasnik, a junior from Hinckley, Ohio, and Katja Pogacar, a junior from Slovenia, who are tied for eighth at 3-under 141. Porvasnik had a 70 and Pogacar had a 72.

   The Buckeyes also got the only other sub-70 round of the day, a 3-under 69, from Niki Schroeder, a freshman from Avon Lake, Ohio, and a 70 from Rio Watanabe, a redshirt sophomore from Japan.

Backing up Waller for Penn State were: Ariana Coyle Diez, a sophomore from Ireland who had a 73 and is tied for 10^th at 2-under 142; freshman Jackie Rogowicz, the two-time PIAA runnerup at Pennsbury  who had a 72 and is tied for 34^th at 147; freshman Cara Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA champion at Villa Maria who had a 75 and is tied for 46th at 149; Grace Chung, a senior from Canada who had a 73 and is tied for 51^st at 150; and Halley Morell, a senior from Brecksville, Ohio who had a 76 and is tied for 62^nd at 153.

   Meanwhile at the men’s Big 10 Championship, Iowa took advantage of a rare off day by Illinois, ranked No. 3 by Golfstat, and surged to a seven-shot lead at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind.

   With the Hawkeyes’ Carson Schaake, a junior from Omaha, Neb., firing a 5-under 67 to take over the lead in the individual standings, Iowa posted a 7-under 281 for a 10-under 566 total. Maryland, which had a 3-over 291, is second at 3-under 573. Illinois, after opening with a brilliant 9-under 279, slipped to a 295 Saturday and is alone in third place at 2-under 574.

   Trailing Schaake by three shots in second place is Penn State senior JD Dornes, the former Manheim Township star who had a second straight 2-under 70 and is at 4-under 140.

   Dornes led the Nittany Lions, ranked 31^st, to a 293 team score and they moved up a spot in the team standings to seventh at 11-over 587.

   Schaake was joined by two of his Iowa teammates in the top four in the individual standings. Nate Yankovich, a senior from Blacklick, Ohio who had a 69, and Matthew Walker, a freshman from Ottumwa, Iowa who had a 71, are two of five players tied for fourth at 2-under 142.

   Maryland was led by David Kocher, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C. who had a 3-under 69 and is alone in third place in the individual chase at 3-under 141.

Illinois has two players in that group tied for fourth at 1-under 142. They are Charlie Danielson, a senior from Osceola, Wis. who had a 74 Saturday, and Thomas Detry, a senior from Belgium who had a 72. The last member of the quintet at 142 is Michigan’s Kyle Mueller, a sophomore from Athens, Ga. who had a 73.

   Rounding out the Penn State contingent are: Charles Huntzinger, a freshman from Duluth, Ga. who had a 73 and is tied for 19^th at 1-over 145; sophomore Cole Miller, the former Northwestern Lehigh standout who had a 74 and is tied for 30^th at 149; and two players tied for 46^th at 154, Chris Houston, a senior from Gilford, N.J. who had a 76, and Geoff Vartelas, a senior from Cromwell, Conn. who had a 77.