The field will be wide open with a mixture of experience and youth in the seven team playing field. Six of last years top ten individual championship performers return headlined by the 2009 individual champion Angelina Parrinello of Carroll. Grinnell’s Mallory Messin and Illinois College’s Juliann Papesch both return after finishing second and third, respectively, in the 2009 championship. Grinnell also returns Natalie Klee (t-6^th) and Elizabeth Burnett (9^th) while Ripon returns its only top-10 performer from a year ago in Amanda Peterson.

 

The conference’s team champion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Tournament, which will be played in the spring (May 10-13) in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

 

The 2010 MWC Championships will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday’s tee times have been pushed back to 10 a.m. Aldeen Golf Club is an 18-hole, 72-par course that covers 7,058 yards with a rating of 73.9 and a slope of 130.

 

Carroll looks to repeat as MWC Champion after earning their first championship in school history, defeating Grinnell College by 31 strokes with a 54-hole score of 1,105 last season. Angelina Parrinello will lead the Pioneers after claiming the 2009 MWC Individual Championship shooting a 260 over three days. Parrinello enters the championship averaging 86.7 strokes in nine rounds and currently holds the fifth best round (81) in the conference. Carroll also boasts freshmen Morgan Zuleger and Lauren Felton who are first and third, respectively, on the team is scoring average. Zuleger is averaging 86 shots per round and is in a tie for the seventh best round in the conference this year when she shot an 82 at both the Georgianni Memorial Invitational and the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic. In nine rounds this season Carroll is averaging 357 shots per round, good for second in the conference.

 

Grinnell looks to improve on three runner up finishes in the past four years to claim their first conference championship in school history. The Pioneers enter the tournament with the top scoring average among the seven team field, shooting an average of 347 strokes per round. Grinnell shot a 336 at the Knox College Invitational to break the school record by 13 strokes and the next day at the Monmouth Fighting Scots Invitational, equaled the total of 336 while finishing second place, one stroke behind 2009 NCAA champion North Central College. Mallory Messin had top five finishes at both meets and fired a league-low 77 at Monmouth. Freshman Stephanie Spahr is also a key player for Grinnell, averaging 85.6 shots per round, twice shooting rounds of 82.

 

A year after finishing fifth the Lady Blues strive to get on the winning track again after having a six year championships streak snapped. Senior Juliann Papesch enters the tournament with the best scoring average in the conference, shooting 82.3 strokes per round and has recorded the teams top eight rounds this season. Junior Holly Ziegler has averaged 91.8 strokes per round in eight rounds while shooting a season low 85 in the Millikin University Fall Classic.

 

After a seventh place finish last season the Prairie Fire set their sits on moving up in the standings at this year’s championship. Senior Jessica DeMory will aim to improve Knox’s place in the standings as well as look to claim the Prairie Fire’s first individual champion since 2002 when Crystal Fox won the 36-hole championship. This season DeMory ranks third in the conference with an average score of 84.5 strokes per round and has a season low of 83. Rachel Talpers holds the second lowest score of the season for the Prairie Fire with an 85 at the Fighting Bee Classic and a season average of 90 strokes. Mia Savard averages 89 strokes per round and has a season low of 88.

 

Monmouth enters the championship fresh off firing their season-bests for an 18 and 36-hole round at last weekend’s Millikin Fall Classic at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur, Ill., placing 13th with a 402-408-810. Kristin Humphrey leads the Fighting Scots averaging 91.1 strokes per round with a season low of 84. Nicole Hurst boasts the team’s second best average with 98.7 strokes and low round of 93 in six rounds.

 

After finishing the 2009 championships with a third place finish the Red Hawks aim to capture their first MWC Championship. Ripon’s highest previous finish at the championship was a second place finish in 2005 when they shot a 36-hole score of 736, 34 shots behind champion Illinois College. Amanda Holdshoe headlines the Red Hawks with a 93 average and also holds the team’s low round of 85 in the first round of the St. Norbert Invitational on September 22. Amanda Peterson shot an 88 at the Ripon Invitational for the teams second lowest round, also supporting the team’s second lowest average of 93.2 strokes in six rounds. Ripon finished the fall season with the fourth lowest average of 386 shots per round in eight rounds.

 

Katie Geraghty leads the Green Knights into the 2010 championship averaging a team low 96.4 strokes per round, also shooting a season-low 89 at the Georgianni Memorial Invite. Geraghty and Alexis Klinger each have a top-five and top-ten finish on the season, with Klinger holding a season average of 99.1 strokes through nine rounds. St. Norbert shot a team-best 393 in the first round of the St. Norbert Invitational.