Blue Raiders finish third in Columbia

Monday, October 2

Columbia, MO - The Club at Old Hawthorne

Middle Tennessee

Johnie Imes Invitational

Photo by: Christina Long, Missouri Athletics

10/3/2017 6:52:00 PM | Women's Golf

Long notches second career Top 5 finish

By: @MTAthletics

Final Results

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Middle Tennessee women's golf turned in another solid performance Tuesday as junior Hanley Long willed herself and the Blue Raiders to strong finishes at the Johnie Imes Invitational.

MT carded a 4-over 292 in round two and a 3-over 291 in round three to finish third at 13-over par (294-292-291=877) for the tournament, 10 strokes back of ETSU and 16 strokes back of tournament host Missouri.

The Blue Raiders (No. 67) were able to knock off both teams that entered the week ranked ahead of them, narrowly edging out No. 45 Kennesaw State (296-292-290=878) and No. 61 Mercer (303-285-297=885).

Long's stellar Tuesday included a 1-under 71 in round two and a 3-under 69 in round three to give her a career-low 54-hole total of 4-under par (72-72-69=212) and the second Top 5 finish of her career.

Redshirt junior Jenna Burris turned in a 3-over par 219 (72-72-75) to finish tied for 13th while senior Cynthia Bounleutay was just outside the Top 20 as her 6-over 222 (73-74-75) left her in 23rd.

NOTABLES

Junior Hanley Long's 3-under 69 was the second-lowest round of her career while her 4-under 212 total marks a new career low for the Clarksville, Tenn., native
Long is now tied for seventh in program history with 13 rounds of par or better in her career while redshirt junior Jenna Burris is tied for fourth with 19 such rounds in her career
Freshman Sophie Burks made her collegiate debut on the week, improving in each round to finish at 9-over 225 (77-75-73)
Middle Tennessee was competing in the Johnie Imes Invitational for the third time in four years, turning in their third Top 3 finish in those three appearances
The Blue Raiders carded three eagles on the week, the most of any team in the field, with Jenna Burris notching two eagles in the same tournament for the first time in her collegiate career
Long led the field in pars with 41 in 54 holes while senior Cynthia Bounleutay had a team-high 10 birdies, good for 15th in the field of 75 golfers
Bounleutay was also 10^th in the field in Par 3 scoring (E) while Burris was second in Par 5 scoring (-5) and Long was third in Par 5 scoring (-4) and seventh in Par 4 scoring (-1)

QUOTABLES
"That was a great performance for Hanley this week and it was nice to see her playing with the confidence that she should have all the time. The freshmen gave us solid rounds and it was nice to see Sophie improve each round and hang tough. There is no giving up with any of them. It was nice to see Cynthia with a bounce in her step again this week and as usual Jenna gave us another solid performance as well. The team score improving each round is great to see especially since we had a schedule change due to the weather and played 36 holes on the second day." – Head Coach Chris Adams on the team's performance to finish third at the Johnie Imes Invitational

"Overall my ball striking with my irons was the best it's ever been this week. I've never felt so confident with an iron in my hand. There are some areas of my game I can improve on before our last tournament of the fall in San Antonio, but I am extremely proud of myself and the team. My dad made a comment that he's never seen me so focused on the golf course before. The amount of talent and drive shown by our team speaks mountains and we feel like we belong playing against any team in our conference and the nation. I believe in every person on this team and we all have one another's back. We are out there playing for one another and I think it's definitely showing." – Junior Hanley Long on her Top 5 performance and the team's finish at the Johnie Imes Invitational

STANDINGS
1. Missouri                                      -3 (288-284-289=861)
2. ETSU       +3 (295-285-287=867)
3. Middle Tennessee      +13 (294-292-291=877)
4. Kennesaw State                       +14 (296-292-290=878)
5. North Texas       +19 (295-289-299=883)
6. Mercer                                         +21 (303-285-297=885)
7. Bradley +31 (297-302-296=895)
8. FGCU +34 (300-298-300=898)
9. FIU                                            +36 (298-299-303=900)
10. Illinois State    +42 (302-302-302=906)
11. Little Rock                                 +44 (306-302-300=908)
12. Wichita State +46 (305-303-302=910)
13. Missouri State +51 (302-302-311=915)
14. UMKC +58 (307-308-307=922)

5. Hanley Long                                -4 (72-71-69=212)
T13. Jenna Burris    +3 (72-72-75=219)
23. Cynthia Bounleutay     +6 (73-74-75=222)
T32. Sophie Burks     +9 (77-75-73=225)
61. Caroline Caudill      +19 (78-83-74=235)

WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Raiders finish out the fall slate on Oct. 22-24 when they travel to San Antonio for the Maryb S. Kauth Invitational.