Jennifer Ha

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Ha third, Germino tied for 10^th heading into Sunday's final round

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Kent State women's golf team battled wet and brisk conditions in the first day of action at the Lady Buckeye Invitational Saturday, hosted by the Ohio State University at the OSU Scarlet Course.

But the Golden Flashes were up to the task, as the team stands in a tie for fourth place through the tournament's first two rounds.

Leading the way was freshman Jennifer Ha (Calgary, Alberta), who shot a one-over 73 during the second round to vault into third place in the 67-golfer field. Ha carded birdies on No. 15 and No. 4 to aid in the cause, as she has a two-round total of 150.

Senior Mercedes Germino (Necochea, Argentina) is tied for 10^th after shooting a 10-over 154 in the challenging conditions.

In a "play-six-score-four" format, the Golden Flashes were tied for second after the first round with a 310 team score. Kent State trailed leader Ohio State by just two strokes after the first 18 holes.

Ha and Germino along with senior Shamira Marshall (Macedonia, Ohio) showed their mettle in the first round, as the trio combined to shoot 12-over. Marshall was four-over in the first round, aided by birdies on No. 9 and No. 6. Marshall finished the day with a 14-over 158 to tie for 28^th place.

Senior Mandi Morrow (Kent, Ohio) recovered from a rough start with a four-over 76 in the second round to move up into a tie for 31^st place. Morrow had back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and No. 14 on her way to an even-par back nine in the afternoon.

Both sophomore Erin Hawe (Walton, New Zealand) and junior Jackie Yanch (Barrie, Ontario) cut strokes off their second round on Saturday. Hawe is tied for 38^th place with a 17-over 161 while Yanch moved up to 46^th place.

Freshman Natalie Goodson (Hudson, Ohio) played as an unattached individual and is tied for 58^th place, the second-highest individual score.

A wet course could not get relief as intermittent rain fell through most of the day, letting up at the tail end of the second round. The result was just one player – Ohio State's Rachel Rohanna – shot par on the first day. Rohanna's even par 144 is five strokes ahead of second place and six strokes in front of Kent State's Ha.

Ohio State pulled away in the second round with a nine-over 297 team score to lead by eight strokes. Kent State is tied with Iowa State at 617, four strokes out of second place.

With frost expected Saturday evening, Sunday's final round shotgun start has been moved back to 9 a.m.