FORT MYERS, Fla. — WKU's Megan Clarke earned her fourth top-10 performance of the season Wednesday, this one on the biggest stage at the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Women's Golf Championship.
The sophomore Clarke tied for 10th with a 2-over-par 218 (71-72-75) tally, which is the lowest conference tournament score ever by a Lady Topper.
Clarke's 218 was one shot better than the previous record of 219 set by Georgina Blackman last season.
"We've done really well as a team this season," Clarke said. "I'm really happy to end with a top-10 finish and played some really good golf this week."
UTSA's Ana Gonzalez repeated as individual champion at 207.
It's the second straight solid showing in the C-USA Championship for Clarke, who tied for 11th last year as a true freshman.
After going eight seasons without having an individual finish in the top 10 of a conference tournament, the Lady Toppers have had one in each of the last four seasons.
WKU finished eighth as a team with an 893 (295-298-300) total, which is the second-lowest conference tournament score in program history – three strokes behind its 890 in 2015.
UTSA also won the team championship with an 854.
WKU junior Mary Joiner registered her eighth top-25 effort of the season, tying for 25th at 222 (75-72-75). She tied for second in the field with 41 total pars.
Freshman Lizzie Loy tied for 36th in her conference debut with a 226 (73-77-76) total. Juniors Bailey Tyree (78-77-75) and Abigail Smee (76-79-75) each tied for 46th at 230.
The Lady Toppers put together four top-four performances as a team this season, including a victory at the Boston College Intercollegiate in the fall. That was the program's six team championship in head coach Adam Gary's five seasons at the helm.
WKU also narrowly missed another title at the Spring Break Shootout in a scorecard playoff, and the program broke into the Golfstat Top 100 for the first time in its history.
The Lady Toppers had 21 top-25 individual performances across the season, including eight top-10s, five top-5s and three victories.
Joiner won two tournaments to give her a program- and C-USA-record six for her career, and Clarke won her first championship in the fall to make this the first time in program history that two different golfers have won events in the same season.
"I'm proud of the attitude and effort that the team put forward this year," Gary said. "They really played well this week, but a few holes held us back. I'm excited that we don't have any seniors and everyone will be returning next year. It was a great learning experience and something we can build on going forward."
2019 Conference USA Championship Final Results
T10. Megan Clarke (71-72-75-218)
T25. Mary Joiner (75-72-75-222)
T36. Lizzie Loy (73-77-76-226)
T46. Bailey Tyree (78-77-755-230)
T46. Abigail Smee (76-79-75-230)
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