The Valparaiso University women's golf team made a 20-stroke improvement on the second day of The Julie, hosted by Northern Kentucky this week at the par-71, 6053-yard Elks Run Golf Course in Batavia, Ohio. Five of the six Beacons participating in the tournament improved their scores from Day 1 to Day 2.
 
How It Happened

• Senior Madison Keil (LaGrange, Ind. / Lakeland) had the biggest improvement of any Beacon, trimming 12 strokes off her Round-1 score by stroking a 78 (+7) in Round 2. She climbed 10 spots on the player leaderboard to finish tied for 53^rd with a 36-hole total of 168 (+26). She birdied the second hole on Tuesday.
• Junior Katelyn McCoy (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) had the team's top score for the tournament at 162 (+20), finishing tied for 27^th after an 80 in Round 2, tying a career best. She birdied the 11^th hole in Tuesday's round.
• Three of the five Beacons who were part of the starting lineup posted scores of 80 or better on Tuesday, including Taylor Skibinski (Michigan City, Ind. / Michigan City), whose 80 was six strokes lower than her score from the previous round. She moved up eight spots on the player leaderboard to finish at t-44 with a 166. Skibinski birdied the third hole on Tuesday.
• Valpo posted a team score of 320 on Tuesday and 660 over the 36-hole event. The Beacons finished six strokes ahead of Saint Francis and 15 ahead of Eastern Illinois on the team leaderboard. Valpo was one stroke behind ninth-place Southern Indiana.
• Youngstown State won the tournament at 621, while Neeranuch Prajunpanich of the Penguins was the individual medalist at 151.

Thoughts From Head Coach Jill McCoy
"I'm very proud of everyone for playing hard and improving in tough conditions this morning. I saw a lot of improvement in Maddie; it was nice to see her confidence improve. Taylor and Katelyn had solid rounds today that were very important to the improvement of the team score. Katelyn did very well, had a little trouble with five holes to play, but was able to find that grit again, buckle down and finish well. We are looking forward to the ISU Invitational in a couple of weeks."
 
Up Next
The Beacons will participate in the Indiana State Spring Invitational beginning on Sunday, April 6 at The Country Club of Terre Haute. A link to live scoring via Clippd is available on ValpoAthletics.com.