At the end of day one, NIU women’s golf sits tied for 10th place at the 2012 Mid-American Conference preview in Nashport, Ohio.

Besides the Huskies, the 14-team field includes conference foes Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Western Michigan, as well as other non-conference teams.

The Huskies are coming into Monday’s action off a seventh-place finish, the team’s third top-10 finish in as many tournaments this season.

NIU carded a 329 in windy and rainy conditions, trailing leader Akron by 15 strokes. Bowling Green sits in second, only one stroke off the lead.

Even with the terrible weather on the course, coach Kim Kester was happy with the play of her team and hopes it will continue for the next day.

“We did well out there,” Kester said. “We had some of the worst conditions we could have out there. It was rainy, it was windy and it was all of the above. We managed alright out there, couple of the scores I know will be lower tomorrow. Allie [Parthie] and Connie [Ellett] did really well out there. We are going to take that momentum and use it tomorrow.”

Parthie battled through the weather to lead the Huskies on the course, as she shot a 76, sitting tied for third in individual play and five strokes off the lead.

“It was wet and cold out there,” Parthie said. “I started out two over through three holes, and then I had a birdie. It was a little bit of a shaky start for me, I guess. Then once I realized I was hitting OK I got a little bit of confidence after the first few holes, I was fine after that. It was the matter of battling through the rain and the wind which was kind of annoying today.”

Even though Parthie was sidelined for a couple of weeks due to an injury, she picked up where she left off.

“She hasn’t been hitting for two and half weeks,” Kester said. “In that time it’s been all short game for her. She has been battling a wrist injury. These past few days have been the first time she has been hitting in awhile. She did extremely well; you wouldn’t have even known she was injured.”

Kester said she has high expectations for the Huskies on day two. She hopes the team will finish strong and move up the leaderboard.

“[I] just want to move up the leader board,” Kester said. “Obviously, you want to go out in a win. We want to get up there as high as we can and finish strong. We want all five scores in the 70s tomorrow and that is what we are going to go for. We have to play smarter and put ourselves in better position to get birdies.”