During a rainy and windy two-day tournament this weekend, the Belles were able to find their momentum on Saturday to finish in fourth place in their first conference tournament of the season.
The MIAA Jamboree in Marshall, Mich. was the test the Belles were looking to overcome. Co-captain Alex Sei said the team was "disappointed" with its play in the first three tournaments, a word the Belles have been using frequently to describe their season this year. But Sei hopes those days are behind the Belles.
"We really wanted to play to the best of our abilities," Sei said, "and this weekend we definitely got closer to that goal. We were happy that our improvement is finally starting to show."
Trailing 44 strokes behind first-place Olivet on day one, the Belles rallied to post a score only 10 strokes behind Olivet on day two, tallying a final score of 726 (150-over par).
"Even though we didn't shoot as well as we wanted, we all set personal goals to lower our scores from the first day which translated into the team posting a much lower score," Sei said.
Tournament winner and host Olivet shot an overall 96-over par to post a score of 672. Albion earned second place with a 691 and Tri-State shot a 699 to take third.
Freshman Kate Doornbos fired a 173 (29-over par) to finish 10th out of a field of 65. Despite illness, squad captain Katie O'Brien also finished strong, improving her day one 95 to an 87 on day two for a total score of 182 - placing her 19th.
"Katie was extremely ill during the tournament but she stayed dedicated to the team and played through it," sophomore Katie McInerny said. "She even lowered her score the second day. She really set the standard for the team."
Also contributing to the strong finish for the Belles were sophomores Katie McInerney (184), Sei (187), Meredith Fantom (191) and Joanna Dick (198).
Sophomore Perri Hamma and freshman Theresa Tonyan entered the tournament as individuals, but did not contribute to the Belles' team total. This weekend marked Tonyan's first collegiate tournament.
The Jamboree's individual medalist was Lindsay Pipkin from Olivet who shot a 78 and 84 for a total score of 162 (18-over par).
The Belles look to continue their improvement for their next conference tournament, at home Sept. 30.
