Bishop establishes career bests; ties for 11th at Johnie Imes

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior Mallory Bishop turned in a career-best performance to lead Middle Tennessee at the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo., Monday and Tuesday.

The senior from Knoxville tied her career-low with a first-round 71 and finished 11-over 227 to tie for 11th at The Club at Old Hawthorne. Bishop established new career bests for three-round tournament score and highest finish in a three-round tournament with the showing.

"The course played very difficult and Monday was a very long day on the course for everyone so I'm proud of how not only Mallory battled and fought through it, but the entire team," second-year Middle Tennessee coach Chris Adams said. "Mallory has been working hard and it's always nice to see the hard work pay off in the tournaments."

Middle Tennessee finished eighth as a team amongst the 18-team field, carding a 927. Mississippi won the event with a 900.

Freshman Steph Gough continued the strong start to her freshman campaign and tied for 14th with a 12-over 228. She turned in a 3-over 75 in the closing round, her best score of the three-round event. She has finished 14th or better in each of her first three collegiate tournaments.

Karisa Akin (239) and Leigh Wilkins (240) rounded out the Middle Tennessee scoring. Clara Leathers finished with a 241.

Johnie Imes Invitational
The Club at Old Hawthorne, Par-72
Final Team Scores
1 Mississippi 300-299-301 900 +36
T2 UALR 303-290-309 902 +38
T2 Missouri 300-298-304 902 +38
4 Mississippi State 306-303-302 911 +47
5 Kansas 306-306-301 913 +49
6 Florida International 308-306-304 918 +54
7 Princeton 310-295-319 924 +60
8 Middle Tennessee 303-309-315 927 +63
9 Texas State 313-300-318 931 +67
10 Iowa 301-317-317 935 +71
11 Missouri State 318-310-316 944 +80
12 Bradley Univ. 322-312-321 955 +91
13 UMKC 319-321-321 961 +97
14 Missouri (B) 315-310-342 967 +103
15 Redlands College 322-320-326 968 +104
16 Southern Illinois 326-325-320 971 +107
17 Memphis 338-336-325 999 +135
18 Drury 337-337-336 1010 +146

8 MT Scores 927
T11 Mallory Bishop 71-78-78 227 +11
T14 Steph Gough 76-77-75 228 +12
T46 Karisa Akin 82-75-82 239 +23
T49 Leigh Wilkins 78-82-80 240 +24
T51 Clara Leathers 78-79-84 241 +25