SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Of the 12 teams involved in the Wittenberg Spring Invitational, four have made appearances in the 2008-09 NCAA Division III national rankings. After one sun-drenched day and one cool, damp but playable day at Windy Knoll Golf Club, the Tigers put the finishing touches on the 2008-09 season with a fifth-place finish, just three strokes behind Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouse Ohio Northern, the fourth of those ranked teams.
The Tigers carded a solid 340 on Day 1 to take a two-stroke lead over the Polar Bears. But as they have done twice already this month, ONU rallied for a narrow win over Wittenberg, carding a Day 2 333 to finish with a 675, good for fourth place. Powered by freshman Anne Busam (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) and her 78-80 performance, the Tigers added a 338 on Day 2 for a 678 overall. Busam was part of a three-way tie for first place individually after finishing the first day just two strokes off the lead, but Emily Gore of St. Mary's (Ind.) was awarded the top spot on tiebreaker criteria. She birdied the No. 1 handicap hole to get the first-place prize.
St. Mary's was unable to hold onto the team lead, however, after topping the field on Day 1 with 318. Allegheny carded a tournament-best 316 on Day 2 to go along with its 321 in the opening round to win the competition by a whopping seven strokes. St. Mary's carded a 644 to take second, while DePauw finished third with a 660.
Freshman Heather Hendrickson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers) was the Tigers' next finisher on both days with matching 84s for a 168 and 17th place overall. Senior Jennifer Petro (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart) was next with a two-day total of 175 in her final collegiate tournament, followed by freshman Nicole Momsen (Sylvania, Ohio/St. Ursula) with a 178 and freshman Carrie Frey (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) with a 182. All three were among the top 40 finishers in the field of 69 golfers on the par-71, 5821-yard course.
Gore and Busam were joined on the all-tournament team by Allegheny's Julia Wears, Allegheny's Hannah Schonau-Taylor, St. Mary's Natalie Matuszak and DePauw's Nicole Garza.