PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Danielle Lemek (Doniphan, Neb./ Doniphan-Trumbull) looks to defend her medalist title as the Bradley women's golf team returns to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Islander Classic Monday and Tuesday.
Lemek won the shortened 2013 Islander Classic as a freshman last year, turning in rounds of 72 and 73 to claim top individual honors by two strokes. She helped the Braves tie for ninth at last year's Islander Classic and will be shooting for her sixth consecutive top-10 finish dating back to last spring.
Bradley will be playing in Texas for third consecutive year and seventh time in program history. The Islander Classic had served as the team's spring opener each of the last two seasons; but the Braves opened the 2014 spring schedule earlier this month with a fothur-place finish at the Mid-American Match Play Championship in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Joining Bradley in the field at the par-72 Corpus Christi Country Club will be Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake and in-state foe Northern Illinois. The rest of the 16-team field includes Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Lamar, McLennen Community College, North Texas, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, South Dakota, Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT-Pan American and tournament-host Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
Lemek claimed MVC Golfer of the Week honors for the third time during the 20013-14 season and sixth time in her career after going 2-1 in match play in Bradley's spring opener. The sophomore is seventh in school history with 11 career top-10 finishes and needs three sub-80 rounds to move into Bradley's career top-10 for rounds in the 70's.
Sophomore Jenna Roadley (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Sturgeon Heights) was one of three Braves to post a 2-1 record at the Mid-American Match Play Championship to open the spring schedule. She joins Lemek as the only Bradley individuals to have played at the Islander Classic. Roadley was in the 70's in each of her last four rounds of the fall schedule, posting a 77.0 stroke average during that stretch.
Fellow sophomore Allison Walsh (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Mt. Prospect) also had a 2-1 record in Bradley's spring opener and boasted a 77.1 stroke average in the final three tournaments of the fall. Freshman Paige Jordan (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) won her opening match of the Mid-American Match Play and will be joined in the lineup by junior Katarina Mangieri (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg), who carded a career-best round to conclude the fall schedule.
After the Islander Classic, the Bradley women's golf team will make its annual trek to Arizona for the Rio Verde Invitational March 7-9.
