By: Matt Stainbrook ~Staff Writer~
This weekend, the Xavier women’s golf team was in full swing, competing in the 2014 LPGA Xavier Invitational, in which it finished sixth overall with a team score of 931.
Leading XU in Daytona Beach, Fla. was junior Shane Crutchfield, who shot an even-par in the final round of play.
Along with Crutchfield, freshman Lindsey Murray also placed in the top 10 individually for Xavier.
Out of the 70 golfers competing, Crutchfield’s score of 225 had her tied for eighth, and her final day score was the lowest of the day.
Another Musketeer with a solid outing was sophomore Rachel Johnson, who finished the weekend tied for 23rd and was the leader for XU on the second day of competition, finishing with an even-par 72.
The women’s team has competed in four events thus far, with their best finish occurring at the Yale Women’s Intercollegiate, where they finished third overall on Sept. 28.
The team next competes at the Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C., on Oct. 26-28.
The Musketeers will return to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the Big East Tournament occuring on April 16-18.
There they hope to improve on their fourth-place finish in last year’s tournament.
The men’s team was in preparation this weekend for its upcoming trip to Noblesville, Ind., as it competed in the Sagamore Fall Preview on Oct. 13-14.
The team is coming off a second place finish in the Firestone invitational last week, which marked the Musketeers’ best finish this year.
The finish was a close one, coming down to the final hole, in which the University of South Carolina Aiken came out on top one stroke ahead and edged out the Musketeers.
Helping lead Xavier to the finish was freshman Jose Montaño, who got his first collegiate tournament win with an overall score of 212 (-4).
This tournament score was the lowest for the Musketeers since Writersenior Korey Ward shot a 9-under score in 2012.
Senior Tanapol Vattanapisit and Ward also finished in the top 30, with a finish of 22nd and 27th, respectively.
Xavier plays its final tournament of the fall season this weekend and will look to continue to build off of its strong performance last week.
The Musketeers will eventually travel to Okatie, S.C., for the Big East Tournament on April 26-28.
They look to show progress from last year and improve on their fifth-place finish.