Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's golf team is preparing to compete in the Horizon League Championship from Friday through Sunday (April 26-28) at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

CSU finished fourth at last year's championship with a 54-hole total of 1,015 (344-336-335) just six shots behind co runner-ups Detroit and Loyola who shot 1,009. Butler won the league title at 984.

Four players are back from last year's squad that place fourth, including senior Ariel Sparrow and junior Madeline Kaminski who tied for ninth place. In addition, freshman Allyson Hackman has provided stability to this year's lineup in her first year.

This year's version of the CSU women's golf team has put together the best season in the 13-year history of the program. The group sports a 320.7 scoring average, nine shots better than the single-season team scoring record of 329.5 set last year.

In addition, the team has posted five of the six lowest scores in school history this year, including a school-record round of 305 at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational just two weeks ago when all four of CSU's scorers shot in the 70's.

Sparrow has led CSU's balanced attack this year with a 79.2 scoring average and is attempting to become just the second player in program history to average less than 80.0 in a season (Katie Broere averaged 78.5 in 2008-09).

Hackman has been solid all season and ranks second on the team with an 80.4 scoring average, the fourth lowest mark in program history and the lowest by a freshman at CSU. She has broken 80 in four of her last six rounds, including a 77 at the Ball State Angola Invitational on Saturday, helping the Vikings to a third place showing with a 311, the second lowest round in program history. 

Kaminski is third on the team with an 81.0 average, while junior Shelly Ford is fourth at 81.8 and is followed by junior Micaela Cronin (83.3) and sophomore Colleen Miller (84.5).

The Vikings' best finish in program history at the league championship was a runner-up showing in 2009.

The winner of the Horizon League Championship will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals which will be played from May 9-11 at one of three sites, including Auburn, Ala., Norman, Okla., and Stanford, Calf.

The selection show is slated for Monday (April 29) at 9:00 p.m. on NCAA.com.

The NCAA Championships will be played from May 21-24 at the University of Georgia Golf Club in Athens, Ga.