October 2, 2009

DECORAH, IOWA . . . Players battled chilly conditions and intermittent rain during round three of the 2009 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Women's Golf Championships Friday at Oneota Golf and Country Club. Central College sophomore Sarah Paulson solidified her hold on the medalist lead with a 1-over-par 73, while Wartburg College extended its edge in the team race to three strokes after posting a 331 team total.

Paulson (73-72-73—218), who looks to repeat as medalist, finished 2-under-par on par-5s with an eagle on the 14th hole and a birdie on the finishing hole and leads Wartburg's Ellen Rickert (74-74-83—231) by 13 strokes heading into the final 18 holes.

Wartburg holds the 54-hole lead after posting a team total of 311-314-331—956. Central (322-305-332—959) is second, just three shots back, followed by Simpson (335-322-343—1,000) and Luther (337-332-355—1,024). Buena Vista (368-348-374—1,090), Coe (354-354-378—1,093), Loras (382-341-371—1,094), and Dubuque (419-415-439—1,273) round out field.

Individually, Wartburg's Daina Deery sits third, nine strokes behind Rickert at 240, followed by Simpson's Katie Vaux in fourth at 242 and Wartburg's Jordan Galles in fifth at 243. Central's Eva Downes is sixth at 245, one stroke ahead of a trio of golfers — Luther's Emily Looft, Simpson's Megan Smith, and Central's Nicole Wenstrand. Luther's Kate Traxler rounds out the top-10 with a 54-hole total of 248.

The IIAC Championship concludes Saturday, Oct. 3 at Oneota Golf and Country Club in Decorah. Tee times begin at 9:00 a.m. with pairings arranged according to Friday's 54-hole leaderboard.

Complete 54-hole results can be found here.

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