Clarion golfer, graduate student Kim Dulski, puts the ball at this past weekend’s Invitational at Clarion Oaks golf course.

The Women’s Golf Team hosted the Clarion Invitational at the Clarion Oaks Golf Club (Par 72) this past Saturday and Sunday. A total of 11 teams came out to compete for first place.

If spectators happened to arrive at the golf course an hour before the tournament took off, they would have found Clarion’s own freshman, Jenna Rinker getting pumped up. “I give myself plenty of time to warm up, and then I go out and have a good time,” Rinker said.

The 11 teams competing experienced difficulty with the rain Saturday, leaving play suspended. Due to the fact that teams were not able to complete 18 holes on Saturday; the tournament was reduced to 27 holes.

Coach Marie Gritzer said, “We are always looking to improve and bring out our best performance at the PSAC Championship.”

Bringing out their best performance is what they did this past weekend. The Women’s Golf Team has only been at Clarion for two years and Sunday brought them their first invitational win.

Jennifer Suffern, a Clarion sophomore, tees off at the Clarion Invitational. (Neal Henry / The Clarion Call)

East Stroudsburg’s freshman Karen Cash won the medalist honors with a total of 117. Clarion’s Kim Dulski (graduate student) came in second place with a total of 119. Third place came in at 120 with a four-way tie between Kelly Nickerson of Gannon, Chelsea Corbo of Kutztown, Haygan Mowder and Sarah Relyea, both from West Liberty.

The team had an overall total of 493. Jenna Rinker came in seventh with a total of 121. Other players who competed for Clarion were Alyssa Gerhart with 125, Samantha Veights with 128, Ashley Longstreth with 137, and Jennifer Suffern with 146.

The awards that followed the tournament were given in honor of Al Lefevere, former Men’s Golf Coach at Clarion. Coach Lefevere died on Aug. 8, 2008.

The 10 teams that finished under Clarion were West Liberty (499), Gannon (500), Kutztown (509), Wheeling Jesuit (526), Mercyhurst (535), West Chester (540), Seton Hill (572), East Stroudsburg (584), Lake Erie (593), and W. Va. Wesleyan (681).

Coach Marie Gritzer said, “We are looking for a win every time we compete. This weekend was a huge win for us up against 10 established teams and being able to come out on top.”

Rinker will be working on her “swing and short game as usual and hoping for good weather” for this weekend.

The Golden Eagles have competed in two other invitationals this season. They competed in the Baldwin-Wallace Invite in Berea, Oh., and the Mercyhurst Invite in Erie. At both of these invitationals, Clarion took home second place team finishes.

This young team is just looking to get better. With the team made up of four freshmen, three sophomores, and one graduate student, the team has the potential to continue improving and bringing more wins to Clarion University in the years to come.

The Ladies will be looking for another win when they travel to Erie on Oct. third and fourth for the Gannon Invitational. After Gannon, they are competing in the Allegheny Invitational, and then it is off to Hershey for the PSAC Championships.