Sept. 20, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Northwestern is locked in a three-way tie for sixth-place at 42-over heading into the final round of competition at the 2008 Mary Fossum Invitational. After shooting a 315 through the first round of the tournament, the `Cats responded with a 303 in the second round to move up three spots.

All five competitors for the `Cats enter the final round within a stroke of each other, as sophomore transfer Innapha Tantanavivat (Bangkok, Thailand/David Leadbetter Academy) sits atop the Wildcat scorecard after shooting a 10-over 154 (79-75) and is currently tied for 26th-place. Senior Jennifer Hong (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy) is right behind her, shooting an 11-over 155 (78-77) through the first 36 holes, shadowed by sophomore Kelsey Lindenschmidt (West Chester, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) at 12-over 156 (76-80). Freshman Kylie Fuller (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) is at 13-over 157 (82-75) and fellow freshman Alexandra Lederhausen (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) is right behind at 14-over 158 (82-76) through the first two rounds of their collegiate debut.

Northwestern will enter the final round tied with Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan for sixth-place overall, and will have some ground to fill to move up the leaderboard. Kent State leads the field at 15-over, two strokes better than the host Spartans. Notre Dame sits third at 22-over, followed by Minnesota (27-over) and Missouri (28-over) to round out the top five. The `Cats, Eagles and Broncos are four strokes ahead of ninth-place Iowa and seven better than 10th-place Michigan.

The final 18 holes of the Mary Fossum Invitational get underway at 7:30 a.m., and live stats of the final round are available at golfstat.com.