Princeton places eighth at Mary Fossum Invitational

The women's golf team posted positive finishes in both individual and team events in its first weekend of the fall season. Juniors Alexis Etow and Caitlin Sullivan took first and second place, respectively, at the Lehigh Women's Golf Invitational on Friday, and the team placed eighth at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday and Sunday.

Princeton's top five were up against a tough field at the latter event, which was hosted by Michigan State. The first-place Spartans shot below 300 in all three rounds of the weekend, better even than the Tigers' team goal to average 305 for the season. Despite the challenge, Princeton was able to finish eighth out of the 15 teams in attendance in its first tournament of the season.

As a team, the Tigers shot rounds of 311, 301 and 305 to finish with a three-round total of 917. Junior Sharla Cloutier had the best finish for Princeton. She shot a three-round 222, tying for eighth place individually at six over par (74-76-72). The top individual scorers at the tournament finished just two strokes ahead of Cloutier.

Freshman Marlowe Boukis had the next best score for the Tigers, finishing nine over par (74-75-76, 225), only one stroke ahead of fellow freshman Susanna Aboff (78-74-74, 226).

Sophomore Annika Welander finished in 70th place at the tournament (85-76-83, 244). Her classmate Annika Windon tied for 75th place, finishing with a three-round 251 (86-82-83).

Meanwhile, Etow and Sullivan split away from the rest of the team and traveled to Bethlehem, Pa., to compete individually Friday at the 18-hole Lehigh Women's Golf Invitational. Etow and Sullivan swept first and second, respectively. Etow shot a 73 for the win, two over par.

"I was playing consistently, and my short game was on," Etow said.

Sullivan finished with a 76, a comfortable four strokes ahead of her nearest competitor.

"I would say that the fact that Alexis and I capitalized on the opportunity to play in a secondary tournament is a testament to the strength of our team this year," Sullivan said.

Etow, Sullivan and the rest of the deep Tiger squad will be competing throughout the week for a place in the top five so they can participate next weekend in the Princeton Invitational .