Simpson fifth as Gaffney garners third, top-5 finish

DECORAH, Iowa – The Simpson women's golf team placed fifth Saturday afternoon at the Luther Invitational behind another strong performance by senior Jennifer Gaffney.

After sitting comfortably in seventh place through round one she sprinted past her competitors and tied for the best score in round two (78) to finish tied for second overall with a two round total of 161. Gaffney's ability to adjust and adapt to the par 72, 5,810 yard Oneota Golf & Country Club course shown through as she managed to make the biggest drop from round one to round two (five shots) out of the top-10 finishers.

For senior Stacy Bergeson it was a similar story despite a tough first round score of 91. Bergeson found her groove and rode it to a 10-stroke improvement between rounds to place 13th overall (172). Jessica Lerdal (179), Molly Hill (189), and Holly Baiotto (199) rounded out Simpson's varsity as they battled a who's who of IIAC adversaries during the two day tourney in preparation for the IIAC Championship.

Six of the eight teams involved were from the IIAC, including defending champion, Wartburg, which brought home the team title (662), and third place finisher Central College (693). Viterbo University (668) and AIB (693) were sandwiched between the aforementioned two as Simpson (701) rounded out the top five. Luther (710), Coe (720), and Dubuque (739) filled out the last three spots respectively.

Simpson looks to improve upon a third place finish from a year ago as they travel to Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls, Iowa for the 2013 IIAC Championship meet this upcoming Friday.