NORMAL, Ill. — For the second straight season, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's golf team won the IWU Fall Classic at the par-72, 5,823-yard Ironwood Golf Course with a final-round 295. Freshman Natalie Ocheltree (Normal, Ill.-University) led the way with a final-round one-under 71 to come from seven strokes down to claim her first collegiate victory. The Green and White's "B" team showed off the roster depth with a 307 to finish as runner-up.
Ocheltree impressively orchestrated her way around the course, capturing birdies on eight and 12, and giving up her only bogey on 10. She knocked in a 10-foot par putt on 18 to finalize her 71, eventually winning on a scorecard playoff based off her back-nine 36. Her 36-hole total of 143 is the fourth-lowest in program history. Ocheltree became the first freshman to shoot under par in program history. She is the first freshman to win a tournament since now-sophomore Addison Krouse (Effingham, Ill.-St. Anthony) won the Dechart Classic a year ago.
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Joining her in the top 10 were senior Emily Gastrau (Wauwatosa, Wis.-Wauwatosa East) and junior Gigi Zera (Glenview, Ill.-Loyola Academy). Gastrau fired a second-day 75 en route to a fourth-place finish, while Zera's 78 tied for seventh.
Sophomore Julia Henry (Homewood, Ill.-Homewood-Flossmoor) jumped up the leaderboard with a 74 to place in the top 20 along with classmate Ashley Wells (Champaign, Ill.-St. Thomas More), Krouse, and junior Grace Fagan (Kirkwood, Mo.-Visitation Academy).
The Illinois Wesleyan "B" squad put together a scrappy score of 613, tracking down Rose-Hulman and outlasting Grinnell for the second spot. Wells highlighted the day for the "B" team, starting her round with four straight birdies to shoot a 75. Grinnell finished third with a 617 tournament total, while Dubuque and Aurora tied for fourth with the same first- and second-round scores for a total of 621.
The Green and White have one more tune-up before the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship, as it treks north for the two-day UW-Whitewater Invite Sunday, Sept. 27.
IWU individual results
T1. Natalie Ocheltree 72-71=143
4. Emily Gastrau 72-75=147
8. Gigi Zera 71-78=149
T12. Merritt Bell 75-77=152
14. Julia Henry 79-74=153
T15. Ashley Wells 79-75=154
T19. Addison Krouse 80-75=155
T19. Grace Fagan 80-75=155
T44. Breanna Brown 76-84=160
T44. Caroline Carr 76-84=160
T50. Nora Cerroni 84-77=161
T79. Sarah Sim 88-80=168
Team standings
1. Illinois Wesleyan 294-295=589
2. Illinois Wesleyan (B) 305-307=613
3. Grinnell 307-310=617
T4. Dubuque 308-313=621
T4. Aurora 308-313=621
6. DePauw 311-316=627
7. Trine 316-313=629
8. Albion 308-323=631
9. Rose-Hulman 294-330=635
10. UW-Whitewater 315-324=639
11. Millikin 314-327=641
T12. North Central 316-326=642
T12. Carthage 324-318=642
14. Saint Mary's 321-328=649
15. Wartburg 324-326=650
16. Central 334-326=660
17. Augustana 326-337=663
18. UW-Oshkosh 335-329=664
19. UW-Whitewater (B) 346-340=686
20. Augustana (B) 365-359=724
