Raiders win snow-shortened River Landing Classic

Tuesday, March 5

Wilmington, NC

All Day

Middle Tennessee

River Landing Classic

3/5/2019 10:00:00 AM | Women's Golf

Three Blue Raiders earn Top 10 spots

By: @MTAthletics

Final Results

WILMINGTON, N.C. – With the second day of play canceled due to snow and scores reverting to the end of round, Middle Tennessee women's golf returns to Murfreesboro Tuesday with the River landing Classic trophy in hand.

The Blue Raiders fired a strong 2-over 290 in the first round to hold a six-stroke advantage over No. 32 Campbell, Rutgers, ETSU and Memphis. MT also defeated No. 40 Penn State as well as Conference USA foes Charlotte and Marshall by 11 strokes.

"Any time you can get a tournament win no matter the conditions it's great for your team," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "This still helps our rankings and we finally were able to come out on the good side of bad conditions. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to finish as we always like to have a full 54-hole event, but every shot matters and we were able to come out on top this week despite the weather not always cooperating in our sport."

The title serves as the first for the Blue Raiders since the 2016 Conference USA Championship and comes at a great time to begin building confidence and momentum as MT moves closer to the 2019 C-USA Championship on the same course where they captured the 2015 and 2016 league titles.

On the individual leaderboard, senior Jenna Burris takes home the top spot for the Raiders with a tie for second place at 1-under par 71.

The performance by the Manchester, Tenn., native is another great sign for Adams' squad as the senior battled injury throughout the fall but posted her best round and finish of the season Monday at River Landing.

"Even though we didn't finish the whole tournament, a tie for second finish individually still means a lot coming off the injury in the fall," Burris stated. "I feel like I lost half of my senior year, so it makes this spring even more special. I knocked some rust off last week and I think I'm continuing to get more comfortable the more rounds I get under my belt."

Joining Burris in the Top 10 are sophomore Sophie Burks (T4) at even par 72 and freshman Catherine Caudill (T8) at 1-over par 73.

Senior Hanley Long's 2-over par 74 landed her in a tie for 17^th in the file of 89 golfers.

"This will give us great confidence moving forward, especially with three players in the Top 10," Adams added. "It's great to see Jenna play well coming off her injury in the fall. We know we have good depth with our younger players playing so well, but you always like to have senior leadership in the lineup too and having Jenna healthy playing alongside Hanley is great for our team."

Senior Kailey Collier turned in an 8-over par 80 in round one while freshman Madison Smith, playing in the field as an individual, carded a 6-over par 78.

The Blue Raiders now turn their focus to the Briar's Creek Invitational hosted by College of Charleston on March 18-19 before completing the regular season at the Memphis Women's Intercollegiate on April 1-2.

"I'm excited to see what is in store for the rest of the season, because this team has a lot of potential," Burris added. "I've always said peaking at the right time is important, and we're headed in the right direction for conference."