Seton Hall University
Second Round
KRUSE WINS; WGolf Finishes Second
9/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. - Sophomore Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.) won the 2012 St. John's Intercollegiate individual title following her final round 74 on Tuesday. Her effort propelled Seton Hall women's golf to a second place team finish, one stroke behind champion St. John's.
Kruse becomes the second Seton Hall women's golfer in school history to claim a tournament's individual crown. Last year, teammate Hannah Basalone (Brea, Calif.) won the Lehigh Invitational. Kruse entered Tuesday's final round trailing St. John's Stephanie Eybers by two strokes for the individual lead. She finished her round with a birdie on the 17th hole and a par on the 18th hole to preserve the victory.
Collectively, Seton Hall placed second by one stroke for a second consecutive tournament to open the fall season. The Pirates fired a second round 309, while St. John's registered a 311, but the Red Storm held a three stroke lead entering Tuesday's play. For the two-day event, Seton Hall was 37-over-par with a 304-309-613.
"I am so incredibly proud of our performance for a second straight week," said Head Coach Sara Doell. "Ali has worked so hard, and for her to show such poise in the tournament's final holes, truly speaks to her maturity. Certainly, I'm a little frustrated to come in second by one stroke again, but we continue to get better as a team and today's growth will benefit us tomorrow."
In all, five individual Pirates finished in the top-10.
Freshman Megan Tenhundfeld (Loveland, Ohio) turned in her second consecutive strong tournament to begin her collegiate career. She followed up her first round 77 with a 76 in Tuesday's final round to place fifth overall with a 9-over-par, 153. Tenhundfeld becomes the first Pirate in history to record back-to-back top-10 finishes in her first two events.
Junior Christina Cantú (Houston, Texas) placed sixth overall and only one stroke behind Tenhundfeld with a 10-over-par, 76-78-154. The performance is the fourth top-10 finish of her career.
Junior Hannah Basalone, who battled through this tournament having received four stitches in her hand earlier in the week, tied for 14th overall with a 14-over-par, 77-81-158.
Sophomore Erin McClure (Tucson, Ariz.) rounded out the scoring for Seton Hall's "A" team and was only two strokes behind Basalone with a 16-over-par, 77-83-160, tying for 20th place overall.
Also impressive was the performance of Seton Hall's "B" team. Due to the close proximity of the St. John's Intercollegiate, the Pirates were able to bring all 10 members of the team and competed with two teams of five.
After a first-round 334, the "B" team improved 14 strokes in Tuesday's final round and moved up to a seventh place finish with a 78-over-par, 334-320-654.
"I thought the "B" team did a great job improving vastly in round two," Doell said. It is very important to have a talented, hard-working roster, not just top-5. When our entire roster is playing well, our starters have to work all the harder to remain in the lineup. It was nice to see them come through today."
Karlie Zabrosky (Erie, Pa.) was a fifth Pirate to finish in the top-10. The freshman was the low scorer of the "B" team and tied for seventh among all golfers with an impressive 11-over-par, 78-77-155.
Sophomore McKenzie Cutter (Waldorf, Md.) improved five strokes from her first round score and finished in a 23rd place tie at 17-over-par with an 83-78-161.
Juniors Samantha Massei (Allen, Texas), Haley Van Es (Granger, Ind.) and Stacie Ballou (Staten Island, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring for Seton Hall's "B" team. Massei was 24-over-par with an 84-84-168. Van Es was two strokes behind with a 26-over-par, 89-81-170, while Ballou finished with a 39-over-par, 98-85-183.
The Pirates have a short turnaround this week as they'll compete at the Yale Women's Intercollegiate in New Haven, Conn. for three rounds of play, Sept. 21-23.
