Weekly Release #1

Upcoming Schedule
Sat-Sun., Sept. 15-16 -- at Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.)
Fri-Sun., Sept. 21-23 -- at Lady Northern (Urbana, Ill.)

Next on the Tee
The University of Michigan women's golf team will travel to East Lansing, Mich., to compete in the Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational, Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 15-16) at Michigan State's Forest Akers West Course. The course will be set up for a par 72 card with 5,880 total yards being played. The Mary Fossum Invitational features 15 teams from across the Big Ten and Midwest competing head-to-head.

Invitational Teams
There will be 15 teams participating in the Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational. The list of participants includes: Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Illinois, Indiana, Kent State, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio, Purdue and Wisconsin.

Invitational Schedule
The Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational will consist of 54 holes, 36 of which will be played on Saturday (Sept. 15) followed by 18 on Sunday (Sept. 16).

Saturday, Sept. 15	First Round	Shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
	Second Round	Shotgun start at 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 16	Final Round	Shotgun start at 9 a.m.

Scoring Format
Scoring for the Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational will be five players, count the low four scores each round.

The Michigan Lineup
The Wolverines will take six players to East Lansing to compete in the Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational. Senior Misia Lemanski (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS) and junior Kim Benedict (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) head up the squad. Senior Cortney Reno (Grosse Ile, Mich./Grosse Ile HS), freshman Laura Olin (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS), who will make her collegiate debut for the Maize and Blue, and senior LeAnna Wicks (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) fill out the top five. Stephanie Bezilla (Grandville, Mich./Grandville HS) will compete as an individual.

Last Year ... Wolverines Finish Fifth at Abbreviated Invitational
Kim Benedict fired a career-low 70 to tie for first place and lead the Wolverines to a fifth-place finish at last year's rain-shortened Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational (Sept. 24, 2000). Three inches of rain washed out the practice round, and flooding on the Forest Akers West Course forced the first two rounds of competition to be cancelled. But when the rains cleared, Benedict sparked the Wolverines' performance with her two-under-par 70 and tied Minnesota's Jenny Bruun for medalist honors, forcing a playoff. After only 29 putts during Benedict's round, it was the putter that got the best of Benedict as she lost on the first hole after three-putting for a bogey five while Bruun parred for the win. As for the rest of the Wolverines, LeAnna Wicks fired a 73 to finish tied for seventh, Misia Lemanski and Bess Bowers tied for 22nd after firing 77s, Trish Watkins tied for 46th (79) and Cortney Reno tied for 63rd (82).

The Fall Opens Opportunities for Wolverines
The 2001-02 season poses many challenges for the Wolverines as they prepare for the Big Ten Championship and a drive to NCAA's in the spring. The fall season opens with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., and the Mary Fossum/Spartan Invitational (Sept. 15-16). The Wolverines then head to Urbana, Ill., to play at the Lady Northern Invitational (Sept. 21-23) at Stonecreek Golf Club, the site of the 2002 Big Ten Championships. At the halfway point of the fall schedule, U-M will host the Wolverine Invitational (Oct. 6-7) at the U-M Golf Course before immediately heading to Franklin, Ind., and the Women's Collegiate Shootout (Oct. 8-9). The Maize and Blue close out the fall season with a trip to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the Hatter Golf Classic (Oct. 19-21) at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort.

Wolverines Battle for Amateur Title
Kim Benedict's and Misia Lemanski's mid-summer tournament schedule saw them go head-to-head in the final of the Michigan Women's Amateur Championship, July 10-13 at the Medalist in Marshall, Mich. In the final, Benedict had a two-hole lead after nine holes and then birdied the par-4 11th hole for a three-hole lead. Lemanski came back with a birdied the par-4 14th to cut it to two, but Benedict closed the match 2-and-1 at the par-3 17th by chipping close after her tee shot fell short as they both made par. The state amateur title marked the second in Benedict's career, after winning the 1999 title.

Benedict and Lemanski Meet Again
After the battle at the Michigan Amateur Championship, Kim Benedict and Misia Lemanski met again, but this time not against each other but in the same field after they each qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship, July 30-Aug. 4 at Flint Hills National Golf Course in Andover, Kan. Benedict missed the cut for match play after shooting rounds of 75 and 81, but Lemanski had a strong tournament, making it to match play after firing rounds of 77 and 73. However, Lemanski lost in the first round of match play to Erica Blasberg 2-and-1. Fellow Wolverine Cortney Reno just missed the cut for the Championship as she was the first alternate.

Shagging the Highlights
In addition to shagging golf balls all summer, Bess Bowers also shagged sports highlights for ESPN. Bowers spent the summer working as an intern for ESPN in Bristol, Conn. She was assigned to work at the Greater Hartford Open and the Great Outdoor Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Wicks Keeps Light Shining Bright
LeAnna Wicks continued her strong play from the end of the season through the summer. She was named the Midwest Collegiate Amateur Series Player of the Year after winning two of the five tournaments in which she participated. In addition she won the U.S. Women's Public Links qualifier, but missed the cut for match play at the championship at Kemper Lakes in Long Grove, Ill. She was the runner-up at the Michigan Women's GAM Championship at Travis Pointe in Ann Arbor.

The Year of Success ... Recapping Last Season
The 2000-01 season was one for the books, as the Wolverines set record after record en route to one of the greatest years in school history -- including the Maize and Blue's first-ever trip to the NCAA Regional. The Wolverines collected three team titles on the year, tying the school mark for most tournament victories in a season. The team victory at the Hawkeye Invitational (April 14-15) was the Wolverines' third title after U-M tied for first at the Lady Aztec Invitational (Feb. 12-13) and won outright at the Hatter Spring Fling (March 17-18). The three titles gives the Wolverines 12 tournament team titles since 1981, seven of which have come under coach Kathy Teichert's reign.

The team didn't stop with just titles as the Wolverines destroyed several team records during the 2000-01 campaign. With a first-round total of 299 at the Hawkeye Invitational, the Maize and Blue struck below the 300-stroke barrier for the fourth time in the season. Those four times increased the school total to six in Michigan history. In addition, at the Shootout at the Legends the Wolverines fired a school-record 287 in the final round, 12 strokes lower than the previous best.

The Wolverines' 602 total at the Hatter Spring Fling (March 17-18) destroyed Michigan's best two-round tournament total mark by 18 strokes. Michigan's previous best was a 620 shot at the James Madison Invitational (Oct. 8-9, 1994). The Wolverines' 889 total at the Women's Collegiate Shootout (Oct. 9-10) destroyed Michigan's best three-round tournament total mark by 15 strokes. Michigan's previous best was a 904 shot at the Lady Kat Invitational (Oct. 6-8, 1995), a mark U-M also surpassed with a 902 total at the Hawkeye Invitational (April 14-15).

In addition to the team highlights, four Wolverines averaged below 80 strokes per round; in fact, two were below the 78-stroke barrier. Kim Benedict set a new school record after leading the team with a 77.41 stroke average. LeAnna Wicks was right behind at 77.68. Cortney Reno finished third with a 78.24 average while Bess Bowers was fourth at 78.29. The amazing part of the low averages is that there had previously been only three golfers school history to hold below an 80 per round average -- Benedict, 79.24 in 1999-2000; Sharon Park (1996-99), 78.42 in 1997-98 and 79.14 in 1996-97; and Wendy Westfall (1994-97), 79.50 in 1996-97.

Benedict garnered her first collegiate individual medalist honor at the Hawkeye Invitational (April 14-15) after winning the four-person playoff for the trophy. It was the third time in 2000-01Benedict was in a playoff for the individual medalist honor (Sept. 24 at Fossum Invitational; March 17-18 at Hatter Spring Fling). Benedict also was named the Big Ten's Golfer of the Week for the week ending April 16. Reno opened the 2000-01 season by taking home the individual medalist honors at the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 16-17), winning by three strokes. The title was the first in the career of Reno and marked the first time since 1996 a Wolverine has raised a tournament trophy.

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423