BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Freshman Cynthia Lang capped another strong performance Sunday and Monday, leading the Illinois State women’s golf team to a fourth-place finish at the Samford Intercollegiate at Inverness Country Club.
Lang entered the tournament’s final round among the individual leaders after surging into the top five on opening day, continuing an impressive fall season that has established her as one of the Redbirds’ most consistent golfers.
Her early success helped keep ISU within striking distance of the tournament leaders heading into the final day of competition.
Competing against a field that included host Samford, Jacksonville State, UAB and several other regional programs, the Redbirds entered the final round looking to finish their fall schedule on a high note.
ISU did just that, posting the lowest team score of the final round with a 301 to secure fourth place overall. The strong finish was fueled by three Redbirds placing among the top 20 individual golfers in the field.
Lang was one of two Redbird golfers to finish in the top 10, placing seventh overall with a final-round 77 and a 54-hole total of 226.
Reagan Kennedy followed closely behind in eighth place after recording the team’s lowest final-round score of 74. Kennedy finished tournament play with a 227 overall score.
Alex Sparrow also shot a 74 in the final round and finished 16th overall with a 236 total score.
Cora Hirz and Xuan (Hazel) Gao rounded out the scoring for the Redbirds, placing 26th and 47th, respectively.
Lang’s performance was the latest sign of a youthful ISU lineup continuing to find its footing.
Earlier this season, she paced the Redbirds at the Lady Red Wolves Classic, where she carded a 36-hole score of 146 and finished tied for 17th while posting one of the top freshman rounds in program history.
The Redbirds, who entered the tournament ranked No. 162 nationally, featured a blend of experienced contributors in Kennedy and Sparrow alongside freshmen Lang, Hirz and Gao.
Up Next
The Samford Intercollegiate marked ISU’s final competition of the fall season with the Redbirds returning to action Feb. 1 at the Battle at Brentwater in Montgomery, Texas.
Noah Simon is a sports reporter at The Vidette. Simon can be contacted at nisimon@ilstu.edu Follow Simon on Twitter at @2noah3simon.
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