The Grinnell College women’s golf team will attempt to capture its first Midwest Conference title in program history this weekend when the Pioneers join six other squads at The Rail Golf Course in Springfield, Ill.
The 54-hole event begins on Friday and runs through Sunday.
Grinnell is coming off a milestone performance last weekend, as the Pioneers captured their own Grinnell Invitational. It was the first tournament title for the Pioneers in the program’s 17-year history.
Grinnell returns two golfers who earned All-MWC honors last year, as Mallory Messin ’13 placed fourth and Stephanie Spahr ’14 tied for sixth. As a team, Grinnell placed third last year with a score of 1,115.
Carroll University has won the past two league titles, last year defeating runner-up Illinois College by a score of 1,077-1,107.
Carroll leads all teams in 2011 with a 334.4 scoring average, but Grinnell is close behind at 339.9.
Individually, all of the top 10 averages belong to either Grinnell or Carroll golfers. Messin ranks third in the conference at 83.6, Hailey Speck ’15 is fourth at 85.3, Alex Plemmons ’15 is sixth with an 86.3, Spahr ranks ninth at 87.7 and Natalie Klee ’13 is 10th at 87.9.
The top average belongs to Carroll’s Angelina Parrinello with an 81.6.
The team champion earns the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, which will be played May 10-13 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
