Spring break will start a week early for the Wisconsin women’s golf team. On Friday the team will travel down to sunny Rio Verde, Ariz., for the Rio Verde Invitational, which is hosted by the University of Western Michigan. The tournament will run through Sunday and feature a total of 18 teams from across the Midwest. This is the Badger’s second of three warm-weather outings, the first of which was held in Puerto Rico early last week.

The Badgers finished 16th in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic and were led by senior Katie Elliott, who tied for 44th overall. This impressive finish, combined with her consistent success all year, led Elliott to be named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week. She will again lead the team into Rio Verde, where she tied for third last year.

Junior Jeana Dahl, who tied for 21st in Rio Verde last year, will back her up. Those performances helped the Badgers tie for sixth place. With this returning talent, the Badgers look to improve upon last year’s result in Rio Verde.

Their road to success in Arizona may be a little easier this year, because Baylor, which won the tournament last year, will not be returning. Senior Allison Martin finished first overall last year with a score of 212, 4 under par.

Instead of going after Baylor, the Badgers will now have to take down the team from Arkansas-Little Rock, which finished second last year at the Invitational. Junior Sara Wikstrom will lead the Trojans into Rio Verde on Friday. Wikstrom finished second overall there last year with a score of 215, one under par. Junior Anita Ojeda will also be back, who tied for third with Elliott last year.

However, the Badgers will not have to worry too much about the team from the University of Toledo. Toledo finished third overall at the Invitational last year behind the top-10 finishes of Kim Kester and Tammy Clelland, who both graduated.

Freshman Carly Werwie and sophomore Kelsey Verbeten will back up Elliott and Dahl in Rio Verde. Werwie is coming off an impressive finish in Puerto Rico, tying for 70th. Verbeten will also look for improvement. She finished 77th in Puerto Rico.

Wisconsin is looking to build on its recent success by utilizing its young talent and taking advantage of the sunny, 70-degree weather in Rio Verde. With Elliott playing well, the Badgers chance for improving upon last year’s performance, like the weather, is looking very good.