“We’re looking forward to regionals,” MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “There’s definitely some good teams in front of us, but some of the teams below us we’ve beaten in different tournaments.”

The Spartans are seeded fourth of 24 teams in the Central regional, with the top-eight advancing to the National Championships from May 18-21 in Wilmington, N.C.

The Spartans will compete at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ind., in their third straight Midwest course after playing in Columbus, Ohio and Madison, Wis., the past two weekends.

Four more ranked opponents are seeded below the Spartans, as well as Big Ten opponent Northwestern. The Spartans will seek to benefit from the balance they showed at the Big Ten Championships, where junior Aimee Neff, freshman Caroline Powers and sophomore Lindsey Solberg each finished in the top 25.

Neff was named to the second-team All-Big Ten, and Slobodnik-Stoll said she should have a slight advantage at regionals because she’s had experience with the Otter Creek course before.

Junior Natalie Brehm and sophomore Shannon Warner also finished in the top 50. The Spartans’ balance has been one of their greatest assets all season long, and that will benefit the team at regionals.

It’s been one of the Spartans’ goals since the start of the season to finish in the top 10 nationally, and Slobodnik-Stoll said the team still views that as an achievable feat as it looks forward to this weekend.

“We always want to win (Big Ten’s,) but second-place is good.” Slobodnik-Stoll said of regionals. “Regionals is only three rounds and it proves to be tough.”

Kueny named Big Ten Golfer of the Year

Senior Laura Kueny was named the Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year on Sunday and recorded her highest career finish of third with a two-under score of 286 at the Big Ten Championships.

Kueny tied a school record by shooting a 68 in the second round and has been closing in on school records all year. Kueny also shot a 68 in the second round of April 11’s Gator Invitational en route to a 212, which tied for the second-best single score in MSU history.

Kueny secured a tournament victory in the Buckeye Invitational on April 17 and 18 to win her second career tournament. In her past three outings, Kueny has come two strokes off a school-record score, won a tournament and twice tied the school-record for a single round.

Kueny is the second Spartan to be named Big Ten Golfer of the Year, the other being Emily Bastel (2002).

“Her performance on the golf course has been great,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “She’s on the curve to be one of the best in program history.”