The Eastern women’s golf team took home its second fourth place finish this fall at the Chicago State Fall Classic Wednesday.

The Panthers (655) finished two spots behind Western Illinois (653) and eight shots ahead of Detroit Mercy University.

Senior Jaymie Voorhees led all Panthers with a two-day score of 158 (plus-15), which was good enough for a tie of seventh place.

Senior Katie Imburgia tied for ninth place with rounds of 77 and 84.

Voorhees said she thought she struck the ball well and that she did a good job of getting up and down to make pars.

She said she had one bad hole where she got a nine on a par five, but other than that she thought she played well.

Imburgia said the team struggled the second day of the tournament.

“We won this tournament last year and I thought we put ourselves in a good position to win it after the first day,” Imburgia said. “But I felt both individually and as a team we struggled the second day.”

Imburgia said she did not know about the rest of the team, but she did not feel comfortable the second day.

“We did not play to our potential,” Imburgia said. “But we got a week off and I think it will give us some time to practice and shake some of the rust off.”

Freshman Emily Calhoun (167) and Kathryn Koester (175) finished in 24th and 41st place, respectively.

Imburgia said she has been impressed with all the freshmen’s effort so far this season.

“Usually freshmen come in and they struggle,” Imburgia said. “So far they have come in and shot really well. They have a lot of potential.”

Voorhees said she knew it would be tough to replace two of last year’s top golfers, Michelle Anderson and Carrie Riordan, but so far the team has looked good.

“I knew there would be a lot of building losing those two girls, but so far a lot of people have really stepped it up,” Voorhees said. “(Junior Veronica) Bernier has really stepped up this fall and has done a great job. “

Other scorers for the Panthers included Bernier (168, 26th place), Jenna Fox (169, tie for 24th), freshman Lauren Willaims (176, 42nd) and junior Sarah Magee (181, 46th).

Voorhees said the conditions were not favorable and reminded her of last spring season. In the spring season the team hardly ever had good weather.

“It was really windy the second day,” Voorhees said. “All day it kept misting on and off. It was constantly about to start raining.”

Butler University won the event with a team score of 628, seven strokes ahead of Loyola.

Butler’s Molly Fields won the event with a 153 after defeating teammate Michelle Nash in a playoff.

The Panthers will continue their season at the Butler Invitational Oct. 4 to 6 in Indianapolis. After that, they only have one more meet in the fall season, at the Austin Peay Inviational in Clarksville, Tenn. Oct. 18 to 20.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or dscusack@eiu.edu.