The Spartans were led by two-time All-American senior Caroline Powers, who posted an overall plus-one score for the three days and a second-place individual finish, after winning the event a season ago. The next best Spartans were juniors Christine Meier and Liz Nagel, who finished at plus six and plus seven, respectively.

“Today was a battle,” Powers said. “You just (have) to keep grinding and try to make birdies, and things are going to happen, and you’re going to make some bogeys, so just try to make the best of it.”

The event included 16 schools from across the country, including MSU, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Kent State, Louisiana-Monroe, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Oakland, Purdue, Texas State, Toledo, Western Michigan and Wisconsin. Purdue took home the team championship for the weekend, and Texas State senior Krista Puisite won the individual championship.

“Overall, it was definitely a good weekend, a good challenge, (and) there were a lot of good teams here,” junior Allyssa Ferrell said.

Ferrell bounced back from a disappointing opening round Saturday morning to finish 12th at plus eight for the tournament.

“Allyssa Ferrell shot 69 yesterday, which anything in the 60s is always a great round, and recovering from an 80 on the same day,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “So she’d probably be my standout player for the weekend.”

Even though MSU came up short, goals for the rest of the season remain very high.
“We didn’t win this weekend, but I think we are definitely capable of winning and challenging Purdue at all the tournaments we see them at, and at Big Tens because we’re going for a three-peat,” Powers said.

With Fossum, the first coach in MSU women’s golf history, in attendance, the players were even more motivated to perform well. Powers called Fossum her “good luck charm” after sinking a few birdies on Saturday while Fossum followed her.

This tournament also meant more to Slobodnik-Stoll, since she took the reigns from Fossum in 1997.

“It means a lot, especially since she’s out here, and having her here and having her be up there next to me handing out the trophies is just special,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “I just think it says a lot for what she did for Michigan State and what she did for me and that she had the belief in me that I could be a good coach, and there’s (nothing) more special to me than calling her saying, ‘We won again.’”