SPEEDWAY, Ind. ? Senior Whitney Cox (Edmonton, Alberta/Harry Ainlay) shot a 77 to highlight the final round of the Brickyard Invitational at the par-72 Brickyard Invitational Tuesday. The Bradley women's golf team slipped into sixth in the final team standings after carding a 317 during Tuesday's play.
Cox turned in the low round of the day for Braves and finished tied for 19th overall at 155 (78-77). Junior Bari-Lynn Erais (Lethbridge, Alberta/Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) and senior Rikki Sobel (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) both shot 79's on the last day. Erais tied for 16th at 154 (75-79), while Sobel was tied for 24th at 157 (78-79).
Freshman Breanne Neufeld (Coaldale, Alberta/Coaldale) was Bradley's top finisher in the event, tying for 11th at 152 (70-82) after shooting 82 in the second round. Junior Lauren Downing (Rockton, Ill./Hononeagh) rounded out the scoring with a 91 and was tied for 58th (80-91-171). Freshman Caitlin Deeken (California, Mo./California) played as an individual and was two shots better than her opening round 83 with a second-round 81 and was tied for 46th at 164.
Eastern Michigan won the team title, firing a final round 301 to finish at 600. Ball State was one shot behind Eastern Michigan in second at 601. Western Michigan placed third at 611 and Indiana State was fourth at 614.
Toledo took fifth at 617 and was one shot better than the Braves, who were sixth at 618. Ohio finished seventh at 628 and tournament-host Northern Illinois was eighth at 631. Indianapolis was ninth at 632. Bowling Green and Loyola rounded out the field in 10th and 11th, respectively, at 636 and 655.
"I'm surpirsed," Bradley coach Bo Ryan said. "Surprised on how well we played on Monday with a week of practice, and surprised at our less-than-stellar effort on Tuesday.
"But it's a starting point, and we should become more consistent once we get a few more practices under our belts."
Bradley returns to action Sept. 29 & 30 at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.
