HOLLISTER, Mo. – Using the strength of a final-round 73 from Elise Fennell, the Illinois State women’s golf team finished eighth at the 2026 Ozarks National Invitational.
Tournament host Missouri State won the event with a three-round score of 904, as South Dakota state (912), UTEP (914), South Dakota (916), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (927), West Florida (938), and Indiana State (941) finished just ahead of the Redbirds’ 943. Northern Iowa (966), Lindenwood (968), Oklahoma City (972), Merrimack (973), McLennan CC (975), and Drury (996) rounded out the 14 schools in the field.
Fennell had rounds of 76, 77, and 73 for her 226, tied for the ninth-best score in the individual field, as she had two birdies and 13 pars on the day. For the tournament she had the fewest bogeys in the field, the third-most pars, and was tied for the seventh-best par-four scoring (4.13 strokes per hole).
Reagan Kennedy’s tournament score of 229 came from rounds of 79, 73, and a tournament-ending 77, a final round that had two birdies and nine pars. Over her 54 holes of the tournament, she had the fifth-best par-four scoring average in the field, at 4.04 strokes per round, and she finished in a tie of 14th place.
Alex Sparrow tied for 39th, closing her tournament with a final-round 83. She had two birdies over her last 18 holes, along with seven pars. For the tournament, her seven birdies are tied for the sixth most in the field. Dani Grace Schrock carded a final-round 80, giving her a 54-hole tournament score of 247, as her final round had a birdie and nine pars, tying for 55th. Reagan Braker’s final-round 86 saw her card a three-round 264, tied for 72nd.
ISU has one final tournament before the MVC Championship, as the squad travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, to compete in the Boilermaker Spring Classic on April 12 and 13.
