MANHATTAN, Kan. - Kansas State will compete in its only home tournament of the season, when the Wildcats host the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational Oct. 10-11 at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan. The tournament tees off with 36 holes on Monday, Oct. 10, with action starting at 8:30 a.m. The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a shotgun start at 8:30.

THE FIELD:  The 13-team field consists of central region schools, including three Big 12 rivals. Seven of the teams are ranked in the top 100 of the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, and three of those are in the top 50. SMU comes in as the top-rated team at 19, followed by Big 12 rivals Kansas (40) and Nebraska (48). TCU (68), Kansas State (79), UTEP (83) and Arkansas-Little Rock (93) round out the top-100 teams in the field. The remaining teams in the field are Missouri State, North Texas, Oral Roberts, UMKC, Wichita State and Xavier.

PLAYING HOST Colbert Hills Golf Course:  Since it’s opening in 2000, Colbert Hills Golf Course has been the home to the Wildcat men and women’s squads. Recently rated as the 10th best college golf courses in the country by Golf Digest, the par-72 course will play to 6,046 yards. Colbert Hills hosted the 2003 Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, in which the Wildcats took the championship, finishing 10 shots ahead of Nebraska. For Kansas State, three individuals finished in the top 10, with Christine Boucher leading the Wildcats tying for third.

LAST TIME OUT:  The Wildcats brought home a trophy for the first time this fall after finishing second at the Chip-N Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. The team had scores of 304-311-305920. Junior Helene Robert led the Wildcats after finishing in fifth place, shooting 75-75-76226, six shots behind the leader. Sophomore Kali Quick returned to form after tying for sixth place, carding scores of 74-77-77228. Hailey Mireles continued to improve her numbers, setting career marks in top finish, low round and low 54-hole score. Mireles finished tied for 16th, while Michelle Regan finished 18th and Katy Heffel tied for 31st.

WILDCAT HISTORY Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational:  The Wildcats come into the 2005 Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational having won the last two of three. Kansas State travelled to Lawrence, Kan., for the 2004 Smith/Sunflower Invitational, where K-State finished fifth. Then-freshman Kali Quick led the team by finishing tied for fifth. Quick shot rounds of 77-78-81236. K-State won the previous year’s Smith/Sunflower, in 2003, at Colbert Hills. In 2002, the Wildcats also won the event, finishing first in the field of 17.

IT’S BEEN AWHILE:  The second-place finish at the Chip-N Club Invitational was the best finish for the Wildcats since their first-place finish at the Texas A&M Mo’Morial in Spring 2004. The second place marks the 36th top-five finish and the 22nd top-three finish for coach Kristi Knight. Junior Helene Robert’s fifth-place finish was the best individual finish for the Wildcats since Kali Quick placed fifth at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational in fall 2004. Robert’s fifth-place finish and Quick’s sixth at the Chip-N Club Invitational marked the first time K-State has had two players in the top 10 since Notre Dame Adidas in fall 2003. The 2004 Big 12 Player of the Year, Christine Boucher, and current junior Helene Robert took second and fifth, respectively, in that event.

K-State’s Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational Lineup

Name                                      Yr.     Hometown             Rnds               Avg.

Christine Arsenault                  Fr.     Rimouski, Quebec       --                     --

Katy Heffel                               Jr.     Mesa, Ariz.                  6                    79.5

Hailey Mireles                          So.     Garden City, Kan.        6                   77.83

Kali Quick                                So.     Nampa, Idaho               6                   77.83

Michelle Regan                        So.     Prairie Village, Kan.     6                   79.17

Helene Robert                           Jr.     Lac Brome, Quebec    6                   76.33