Favorite story

Has to be the Illini Classic. It was my first story on the sports desk, so I was already excited. The Illini ended up winning, so it was a great way to kick off my job at The Daily Illini.

Best game I covered

Also the Illini Classic. The golfers played an outstanding tournament and took home top honors. The performances were some of the best of the season.

Most challenging story

The preview for the Lady Buckeye Invitational. I was traveling that weekend, and the team was also traveling to Ohio. I remember trying to call them, and we just kept missing each other’s calls. I didn’t think I was going to get any interviews, but luckily I finally got ahold of them.

Play of the year

Not so much a play, but more of a performance. I would have to pick Seul Ki Park’s comeback in the Big Ten Championship. After the first day of the tournament, she was in 34th, but by the end of the tournament, she was tied for 16th and named second-team All-Big Ten.

Best quote

I like this one a lot. It just sums up the season perfectly:

Head coach Renee Slone: “We’ve really come a long way; this spring we got off to such a great start. They won two tournaments, which they hadn’t experienced a team victory before. We definitely made significant progress.”

Best interview

My best interviews were probably those with the seniors toward the end of the season talking about how this was their final year. I could tell it meant a lot to them, and they were leaving with a lot of good memories.

Story line for ’08-’09

Women’s golf will go on to continue its success and qualify for NCAA Regionals after just missing out this year.