Heading into the weekend, the women’s golf team faced a tough Western Illinois team as well as other top teams in the Westerwinds Classic in Macomb, while the men traveled to Normal to face several tough Midwest teams in the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate held at University Golf Course, home to the Illinois State Redbirds.

The women’s team managed a fifth-place finish in the one-round tournament, after the second round was washed out by rain.

Senior Amanda Minchin tied for second place, five strokes behind Western’s Janelle Bush. Minchin faired well on the day, opening with a front nine 39, and finished the day with a five-over 77.

Brooke Pellock rounded out the top 20 in the shortened match, shooting a 14-over 86. As a team, the Panthers finished 17 strokes off of first place Western Illinois, but played well despite having a low number of entrants in the tournament.

All four of Eastern’s golfers had fought sickness all week and played their best golf given the circumstances.

Only two of this year’s women had played at the Harry Mussato Golf Course, which is a very challenging course for anyone who has not had experience at that venue.

“Even though we have a low turn out this season, the girls are doing well,” said head coach Mike Moncel. “We still have some work to do this fall, and hopefully will have more success this spring.”

On the men’s links, Eastern’s Kyle Maxwell shot back-to-back 72s to stay even-par after the first two rounds at the annual D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate.

As a team, coach Moncel expected his team to finish somewhere in the middle of the field, which is good considering the level of competition they faced.

“These guys are very competitive and have a lot of potential,” said Moncel.

The Panthers remained in the thick of things over the first two rounds. Moncel’s prediction held up well as the Panthers finished tied for sixth place in the 15-team field. Eastern’s Kyle Awerkamp led the way for the Panthers, shooting a six-over par in the three round tournament.

Charleston native Dustin Sloat fired an opening round 71 to lead the way for the Panthers but steadily fell backwards on the leaderboard throughout the tournament.

“I’m just really impressed with the level of competition these guys have this year,” said coach Moncel.

Next up for the women will be the Butler Invitational in Indianapolis this weekend while the men get a few days off before heading to the DePaul Invitational on Sept. 28.