Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre grabbed three of the
top high school players in Pennsylvania and they arrived together in Happy
Valley in the fall of 2015.
They began the spring portion of their senior seasons Sunday
in the opening round of the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando,
Fla., all in the starting lineup as they have been almost their entire careers.
Jackie Rogowicz, a two-time PIAA runnerup at Pennsbury, Cara
Basso, the 2012 PIAA Class AA champion as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy,
and Lauren Waller, the 2014 PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a senior at
Canon-McMillan, helped the Nittany Lions card a solid opening round of
2-under-par 286 over the 6,349-yard, par-72 Eagle Creek layout that left them
in a three-way tie for eighth, but only seven shots behind the leader, College
of Charleston, which posted a 9-under 279 in warm and unusually windless
conditions.
Basso finished in a tie for fourth at last spring’s Big Ten
Championship and earned an individual berth in the NCAA Madison Regional, but
Penn State has been unable to get to an NCAA Regional as a team during this
group’s stay in Happy Valley.
Penn State enters the spring campaign off a strong fall
during which it won two tournament titles. The Nittany Lions are ranked 39th
by Golfstat as the second half of the
2018-’19 season gets under way. The goal is clear and reachable.
Rogowicz opened her spring with a solid 3-under 69, which left
in her a group of nine players tied for eighth in the individual standings,
just a shot behind another group of seven tied for the individual lead at
4-under 68.
Basso matched par with a 72 as did teammate Megan McLean, a
junior who was a scholastic standout at Voorhees High in South Jersey. Rounding
out the counters for Penn State was Sarah Willis, a freshman from Eaton, Ohio
who came out of the gate with several strong showings last fall, highlighted by
a record-breaking individual title in the Nittany Lion Invitational. Willis
carded a 1-over 73 that left her in the group tied for 51st.
Waller posted a solid 2-over 74 and is in the group tied for
63rd.
St. Pierre brought along two other players to compete as
individuals and junior Madelein Herr, the Class AAA District One champion as a
senior at Council Rock North, started making her case for inclusion in the
starting lineup with a 1-under 71 that left her in the group tied for 24th.
It will be interesting to see how Herr, who appeared in the starting lineup for
most of her first two seasons, will respond to the challenge of having to earn
that spot this spring.
When you have competition just to make the starting lineup,
it tends to make the team more competitive come tournament time.
Kamerine Taylor, a senior from Dublin, Oho, carded a 77
competing as an individual for Penn State and is in the group tied for 19th.
College of Charleston, led by Olivia Hamilton, a sophomore
from England who is part of that seven-player logjam tied for first at 4-under
68, opened with that impressive 9-under 279 that gave it a one-shot lead over
Miami. The Cougars are No. 36 in the latest Golfstat
rankings while the Hurricanes, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, are 27th.
No. 10 Kent State – the Golden Flashes always seem to be
among or close to the top 10 teams in the country – are another shot behind Miami
in third at 7-under 281. No. 37 Kennesaw State is another shot behind Kent
State in fourth at 6-under 282.
Vanderbilt, the highest-ranked team in the 16-team field at
No. 6, is in fifth place at 5-under 283. Host UCF, ranked 68th,
posted a solid 4-under 284 and is a shot behind the Commodores in sixth.
Three of the next four teams in the standings are out of the
Big Ten, led by two-time reigning conference champion Michigan State, which is
alone in seventh at 3-under 285, a shot behind UCF. The Spartans are ranked 30th.
Big Ten representatives Purdue, a perennial Big Ten and
national power ranked 29th, and Penn State are joined by No. 54 Iowa State out
of the Big 12 in the group tied for eighth at 2-under 296. That makes 10 teams
within seven shots of each other. This 54-hole event, which resumes with Round
2 Monday and concludes with Tuesday’s final round, is far from over.
Backing up Hamilton for College of Charleston was Jodee
Tindal, a sophomore from Rock Hill, S.C. who is in that large group tied for
eighth at 3-under 69. Clarissa von Stosch, a sophomore Germany, carded a solid
2-under 70 and is in the group tied for 17th.
Victoria Huskey, a junior from Greenville, S.C., matched par
with a 72 and is in the group tied for 37th, giving the Cougars four
players at par or better. Rounding out the College of Charleston lineup was
Anna-Theresa Rottluff, a junior from Germany whose 1-over 73 left her among the
group tied for 51st.
Among the group joining College of Charleston’s Hamilton in
the seven-way tie for first are Michigan State’s Allyson Geer-Park, a junior
from Brighton, Mich. and a key player in the Spartans’ runs to the last two
conference championships, and Kent State’s Karoline Stormo, a junior from
Norway. Geer-Park was part of that tie for fourth along with Penn State’s Basso
in last spring’s Big Ten Championship.
Four more players round out that group tied for first in the
individual standings at 4-under 68, including a couple of Belgians, Kennesaw
State redshirt junior Clara Aveling and Old Dominion senior Charlotte De Corte,
SMU’s Brigette Dunne, a senior from Camarillo, Calif., and Tulane’s Jennifer
Rosenberg, a sophomore from Laurel Hollow, N.Y.
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