Women's Golf: Bruns Wins Individual Title as IU East is Second at RSC Championship
DANIELS, W.Va. - The Indiana University East women's golf team finished second in the River States Conference Championships, but Jalyn Bruns joined an exclusive group of Red Wolves as she took medalist honors on Tuesday, April 28.
"I couldn't think of a more deserving person than Jalyn Bruns as our conference medalist," IU East coach Billy Mullin said. "She played super all week and kept her head on straight the whole time."
Bruns started the final round of the three-day affair in a tie for second place, but she would eventually become the fourth Red Wolf in school history to earn a trip to the NAIA National Championship as the conference's individual winner with a score of 80-78-78-236.
"Her conservative and consistent style really paid off for her," Mullin said. "I'm excited that she gets to compete in nationals again."
The national tournament is in Michigan at the Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti on May 13-16. The Red Wolves competed as a team in the event as RSC champs from 2022-24 with Bruns playing the last two seasons.
"I'm very proud of my teammates for how we battled out there," Bruns said. "We played our hardest and just came up short."
"Other than a triple on the third hole of the day, I played pretty solid throughout the round," Bruns continued. "My irons were pretty locked in and I was putting good all day. It felt pretty nice to make a long putt on the last hole to save par. It was a great way to end my first ever collegiate tournament win."
Breanna Nowak was the conference medalist for IU East in 2016, 2018, 2019, while Jo Wisecup followed in 2021. Brooklynn Cromwell won the title last spring.
Bruns finished three strokes ahead of Midway's Kasey Cameron (80-82-77-239) and IU Kokomo's Hailey Stegeman (77-81-81-239), who tied for second on the leaderboard.
The Red Wolves had a team score of 331-325-323-979, which put them behind RSC champ Midway University (322-330-320-972). IU East moved up a spot on the last day sending St. Mary-of-the-Woods College (326-328-331-985) into third place in the seven-team affair.
"It was a great tournament of competition again," Mullin said. "Our kids played their hearts out. I'm very proud of our team for how they went about their business this week. We made a nice run at Midway, but unfortunately our slow start on the front nine put us in a tough spot."
Sophia Curry (82-78-81-241) finished in fourth place for the Red Wolves joining Bruns on the All-RSC First Team.
"I had an amazing time playing in the conference tournament the past three days," Curry said. "Every shot was a battle and I enjoyed every second. I'm so incredibly proud of all this team has accomplished."
Liv Sanders (81-85-77-243) moved up four positions into a tie for sixth earning a spot on the All-RSC Second Team. Playing in her school record 94th round of her career, Katie Craig (88-84-87-259) finished 15th to be on the All-RSC Third Team. Lainey Jackson (91-94-89-274) tied for 23rd.
"I can't say enough about Katie and Liv," Mullin said. "They have been great champions here at IU East. No player I have ever coached got more out of what she had than Katie. Liv has had a great career. She is truly one of the great players we have ever had. We are going to miss them both."