Koshko Wins Individual, Penn State Finishes T-3rd in Record-Setting Nittany Lion Invitational
Freshman and State College local Maddie Koshko Won the First-Ever Happy Valley Individual Following Back-to-Back 68s, while Penn State Finished Tied for 3rd at the 50th Nittany Lion Invitational
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Freshman, and State College local, Madison Koshko secured individual medalist honors in her collegiate debut at the first-ever Happy Valley Individual contested on the Penn State White Course this week following a pair of 68s.
“I was very impressed with Maddie’s performance at the Happy Valley Invitational. Shooting back-to-back 68s in her collegiate debut is incredibly impressive. We’re excited to watch her continue to grow and develop here at Penn State,” acknowledged head coach Kristen Simpson.
Koshko paced the field of 43 individuals who competed in a separate tournament as part of the 50th Nittany Lion Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. Koshko fired back-to-back rounds of 4-under, 68, in the 36-hole event including a bogey-free opening round. The rookie made just one bogey throughout her two rounds finishing the week with nine birdies for her 8-under, 136, securing the title by four strokes over Maryland’s Noa Terroba Toro.
“I felt really confident in my game this week, especially my short game. I missed some greens in the opening round, but I was able to get the ball up and down which really helped,” mentioned Koshko. I’ve also been working on my putting a lot during practice, and my distance control has improved a ton. I felt extremely confident over my putts this week, especially the short ones, I knew I was going to make them and that mindset helped me sink a bunch of birdies as well as pars.”
Sophomore Audrey Lam backed up a bogey-free round of 71 on Monday with an even-par, 72, on Tuesday to finish tied for fourth at 1-under, 143, as part of the individual while classmate Lillian Guleserian finished the two rounds at 5-over, 149, and in 14th position.
COMPLETE Happy Valley Individual scoring available HERE.
As a team in the Nittany Lion Invitational, Penn State used back-to-back rounds in red figures, including the low-round of the day on Tuesday, 8-under, 280, to race up the leaderboard into a tie for third with Harvard at 11-under, 853. The score, which was 25 strokes better than its score to win the event last season, would have been good to take the crown any other year if it wasn’t for record-setting scoring from Virginia Tech and Maryland.
The Hokies used three-straight rounds better than par, including a 10-under showing in the second round, to set a new tournament scoring record with a winning total of 20-under, 844, surpassing the Nittany Lions own program record of 13-under, 851, accomplished during their 2021 championship.
Maryland finished five strokes off the pace in second at 15-under, 849, a mark that is now second all-time at the Nittany Lion Invitational while James Madison rounded out the top five behind Penn State and Harvard at 2-under, 862.
Virginia Tech senior Valentine Delon added to the record books for the Hokies finishing the week with a program and Nittany Lion Invitational record 13-under, 203, besting the previous mark of 11-under, 205, set by Sarah Willis ’23 back in 2018.
The Nittany Lions were paced by junior Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun who carded three rounds in the red as she sandwiched a bogey-free, 4-under, 68, between a pair of 71s to finish the week 6-under, 210, and in a tie for fifth.
Sophomore Mara King had one of the best weeks of her Nittany Lion career finishing tied for seventh in the 90-player field after moving up 14 spots, marking her second career top-10 with a collegiate low 5-under, 211.
After beginning the day at even par following rounds of 71 and 73 on Monday, King ripped off seven birdies, including a string of six over a 13-hole stretch, with just two bogeys to card a collegiate best, 5-under, 67, and tie for low round of the day on Tuesday.
Junior Lauren Thompstone also had a strong showing on Tuesday posting a collegiate best 3-under, 69, to climb 21 spots and into a tie for 23rd. Thompstone finished the week at even-par, 216, the best finish relative to par of her three seasons in Happy Valley.
Junior classmates Zeynep Sualp and Hannah Rabb rounded out the team scoring at 2-over and 4-over, respectively, finishing tied for 29th and tied for 38th as each Nittany Lion finished in the top half of the field.
“It was a great team effort today! We shot 8-under, moved up three spots into a tie for third, and had three players finish under par,” stated Simpson. “Our putting was exceptional, and we did a great job turning strong iron play into birdie opportunities. Yaya and Mara led the way all weekend, and Lauren’s 69 today was huge. A great building block for this team moving forward!”
COMPLETE Nittany Lion Invitational scoring available HERE!
Following a week off, Penn State travels to the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky on September 21-22.