The women’s golf team participated in the GLVC Women’s Golf Championship from April 24-26 at the Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Illinois.

In a field of 14 teams from throughout the conference, the Prairie Stars finished tied for third by posting a final score of 932 (310-313-309), shooting 68 strokes over par.

The Stars started the first round in second place with a score of 310, eight shots behind Indianapolis University.

However, in the second round the Stars dropped several shots after posting a 313.

UIS had its best team showing in the final round with a 309, but their performance would be the fourth-best of the day as Indianapolis shot a 294, the University of Missouri-St. Louis shot a 305 and the University of Southern Indiana shot a 308.

For the Prairie Stars, three golfers finished in the top 15 on the leaderboard. Maria Espinosa shot a 231 (76-78-77), placing 10th, 10 strokes behind Katharina Keilich of UIndy.

Right behind Espinosa in 11th was Rebecca Ramirez, who posted a 233 (78-80-75).

Kayla Yn finished tied for 14th, with an overall score of 235 (77-76-82).

Additionally, Jocelyn Matsen tied for 23rd place with a 240 (79-84-77), and Taryn Pittman tied for 29th with a 242 (83-79-80).

The Prairie Star performance was good enough to maintain their 10th-place ranking in the east region, which automatically qualifies them for the NCAA Super Regional held at Springfield’s Panther Creek on May 2-4.

This is the first time in UIS history that the women’s golf team has qualified for the Super Regional.

A total of 12 teams will participate in the East Regional, six of which are members of the GLVC. Participating schools include: Ashland, California (PA), Findlay, Grand Valley State, Indianapolis, Lewis, Nazarene, Northwood, Trevecca, UMSL, and William Jewell.

The top three teams competing in the Super Regional earn a spot in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, held from May 18-21 in Aurora, Colorado.