The Penn State women's golf team is starting its season off on a good note. The team recorded its first top ten of the year with a sixth place finish at the Oregon State Invite.

The event, which had fifteen teams in it, mostly from schools in the West Coast region, took place in Corvallis, Ore. Teams played 54 holes, 36 the first day and 18 on the last, on the par-72, 6,260-yard Trysting Tree Golf Club.

Junior Maggie Lester led the way for the team with solid scores of 74-75-75-224. Next came seniors Katrin Wolfe, who had a good showing with a score of 231, and Amber Weinerth, who shot one behind Wolfe with a 232.

Senior Lauren Lundy improved her second round 85 by shooting a 77 during the third round and shot a 237 overall. Rounding the pack for the Nittany Lions was sophomore Sara Lester, a transfer from Arizona State, with a score of 239.

Coach Denise St. Pierre was pleased overall with the Lions' performance.

"For the most part, we had much better consistency than we did last season. We're getting confidence and experience. This was a good learning experience for the team."

That doesn't mean that the team is going to stop practicing as hard as it has all summer. According to St. Pierre, there's always room for improvement.

"I know the team could do better than we did here," St. Pierre said. "We're not settling for this."

Penn State, which has returned numerous starters, is already seeing better results than it did last season, when it finished last in the Big Ten Championship.

Next, the Lions will finally get to face some Big Ten competition, after competing against all non-conference schools. The team plays in the Lady Northern on Sept. 24 and 25 at Indiana.