West Dundee, Ill. -- Six months after concluding its fall season at the CCIW Championship, the Thunder women's golf team finally returned to competition on Tuesday morning. Wheaton traveled to West Dundee for the opening event on its spring schedule, the Judson University Invitational. Four of the six players on this year's roster represented the Orange and Blue in today's tournament, as Wheaton tied for 14th place in the 18-team field.

The single-round tournament was made up of programs from around Illinois and Wisconsin and was eventually won by Lake Forest College with a cumulative team score of 328. The Thunder quartet taking part in Tuesday's event carded a combined mark of 407 to enter the clubhouse level with Rock Valley College in 14th, ten shots behind Carthage College in 13th (397) and seven strokes in front of 15th-placed Benedictine University (414).

Freshman Abby Crutchley led the way for Wheaton this afternoon with a round score of 92 (+21) to tie for 36th on the 101-woman leaderboard. Second Team All-CCIW performer Emma Lee was close behind her fellow rookie on a 94 (+23) mark, tying for 44th place in the solo standings.

Abi Edwards registered a score of 108 in her first tournament of the year after joining the women's golf squad following the fall soccer season. Molly Holbert finished the day with a 113 tally through 18 holes of play.

Next up for the Wheaton team is an out-of-state trip to West Michigan this weekend. The Thunder are scheduled to take part in the Hope College Spring Invite on Friday and Saturday, with the competition's two rounds being held at separate courses in Saugatuck. Friday's opening round is set for a 1:00 PM local time start, while Saturday's action will commence at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.