Sophomores Madison Keil (LaGrange, Ind. / Lakeland) and Anna Fay (Ada, Mich. / Forest Hills) each delivered 18-hole scores that joined the top-10 in program history in Round 1, starting this week’s Valparaiso University women’s golf tournament on a high note on Monday. Keil leads the Beacons through 36 holes at the Brittany Kelly Cardinal Classic, hosted by Ball State at the par-72, 6139-yard The Players Club in Yorktown, Ind.  

How It Happened

• Keil carded a 73 (+1) in Round 1, before following with another solid showing at 74 (+2) in Round 2. She sits at 147 (+3) through two rounds, tied for 12^th in a 70-player field. She is just one stroke behind a tie for seventh and enters the final day of competition with an opportunity for a top-10 finish.
• Fay boasted the team’s top Round-1 score, needing just 72 strokes to complete the first 18 holes at even par. She followed with a 79 in Round 2 and finished the day at 151, second on the team and tied for 29^th on the player leaderboard.
• Valpo’s other sub-80 round of the day came courtesy of freshman Emily Krzyzanowski (Scottsbluff, Neb. / Gering), who put together a strong Round-2 showing with a 74 (+2), a seven-stroke improvement from her opening-round performance. The rookie finished the day third on the team and tied for 48^th among all competitors.
• As a team, Valpo carded a 307 in Round 1 before totaling 313 in Round 2 to finish the day at 620, six strokes in back of Western Illinois for 11^th on the team leaderboard.
• Loyola holds the top spot on the team leaderboard at 586, while Ball State’s Kiah Parrott posted a 135 (-9) to build up a five-stroke lead over the rest of the field for medalist honors.

Inside the Round

• Fay’s Round-1 score of 72 was four strokes better than her previous career low of 76.
• She tied for the sixth-best 18-hole score in program history and became just the fourth player with a score of 72 or better since the program began, joining Kelly Voigt (3x), Angie Kim (twice) and Michelle Kleckner.
• Fay’s 72 was the best 18-hole score by a member of the program since Kim’s 72 in the second round of the Bucknell Invitational on Sept. 19, 2015.
• Fay golfed just the sixth round of par or better in program history and the first since 2015. She also became just the fourth Valpo player with a round of par or better, again joining Voigt (3x), Kim and Kleckner. Her Round-1 score from Monday is tied for fifth in program history with Voigt’s performance from the 2012 Dayton Fall Invitational.
• Keil’s Round-1 score of 73 ranks tied for eighth in program history and tied for seventh in program history in relation to par. This marks the second straight week she has tied a career best and cracked the program’s all-time top-10, as she also carded a 73 in the third round of last week’s Redbird Fall Invitational
• Valpo’s team score of 307 (+19) in Round 1 ranks tied for sixth in program history in 18-hole low in terms of overall score. In relation to par, the round is tied for fourth in the program record book for 18-hole team score.
• Keil had nine birdies to lead the team and rank third in the tournament.

Thoughts from Head Coach Jill McCoy

“I am so proud of the girls today. We are starting to be more levelheaded through our rounds and it’s starting to show in our scores. Maddie played some great golf and was able to make some great recoveries. Anna had a series of unfortunate events on one hole but otherwise had a great day. It’s great to see Emily find her footing and starting to settle in to college golf. All in all, it’s so great to see everyone smiling on the golf course. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going tomorrow.”

Up Next

Valpo will compete in the final 18 holes of the event on Tuesday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.