Cheektowaga, N.Y. – Paced by the top three finishers of the tournament, the Youngstown State women's golf team earned the team crown at the Purple Eagles Invitational hosted by Niagara which concluded on Monday afternoon at the Diamond Hawk Golf Course.
YSU had scores of 306 and 305 on Sunday before carding a final round 302 on Monday for a total of 913. Siena finished second with a 949 as the Guins won the tournament by an impressive 36 shots. Placing third was St. Francis (Pa.) with a total of 966.
YSU's 913 is tied for the seventh-lowest three-round performance in school history.
Individually, freshman Neeranuch Prajunpanich claimed medalist honors for the first time in her career with a 221 while Madie Smithco was second with a 224 and Lizzie Saur finished third with a 229. Finishing 11th with a 242 was Titita Loudtragulngam and placing 12th with a 243 was Chaela Barnett.
Prajunpanich rebounded with rounds of 70 and 71 after carding an opening round 80. She was in 10th place and seven shots back following yesterday's first round. She fired a two-under par 70 to close out Sunday which featured birdies at No. 2, No. 9, No. 16 and No. 18. On Monday, here one-under par 71 was highlighted by six birdies (No. 2, No. 4, No. 6, No. 8, No. 12 and No. 17).
Smithco took a first-round lead after firing a 73 and after two rounds was tied at the top of the leaderboard with a 150. She finished the tournament with a two-over par 74 on Monday. She was one-over after her first round which included birdies at No. 4, No. 15 and No. 17. Her final round had birdies at No. 6 and No. 15.
Saur had rounds of 77, 76 and 76 at the event. On Monday she was even par through her first 13 holes which featured birdies on No. 2 and No. 8. She carded three birdies on her opening round which came at Nos. 9, 14 and 17.
The victory is the third in four events for the Penguins so far this fall. YSU is next in action on Oct. 16-17 when it participates in the Chippewa Invitational hosted by Central Michigan to close out its fall season.
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