Urbana, Ill.- Penn State junior Katie Futcher (The Woodlands, Texas) shot a career-low 68 at the first day of The Lady Northern Invitational, held at The University of Illinois. Futcher's 4-under par performance lead the Lions as well as the rest of the competition, setting a Penn State individual record for 18 holes. As a team, Penn State stands in fifth with a score of 302 on the day.

The University of Michigan leads with a 290 after day one. They are followed by Illinois (296) and Indiana (299).

The next closest individual finish behind Futcher's record 68 was taken by Misia Lemanski, 71 (-1), of Michigan. Following, tied for third, were four players who stand even at 72.

Nittany Lion sophomore Rosmarie Fuster (Lima, Peru) and senior Meghan Mull (Naperville, Ill.) were the next top finishers for Penn State, shooting a 76 (+4) and 77(+5), respectively.

With her 68, Futcher breaks the previous PSU record of 69 that was shared by Sara Doell and Laura Hammond. Both had shot 69 on two occasions; the most recent was Hammond's 69 at the NCAA East Regional on May 6, 1999. Futcher also improved upon her own statistics. Her best 18 holes to date occurred last fall in the last round of The Pine Needles Invite, where she posted a 71.

The Lady Northern Invite continues play tomorrow and continues through Sunday.

 TEAM STANDINGS:  1 Michigan 290 2 Illinois 296 3 Indiana 299 4 Kent St 300 5 Penn St 302 6 Nthwstrn 303 7 Wisconsin 304 8 Minnesota 308 9 S Illinois 310 Bradley 310 11 Ohio 315 Iowa 315 13 N Illinois 324 14 Illinois St 333 PENN STATE SCORES: 1 Katie Futcher 68 (-4) T19 Rosemarie Fuster 76 (+4) T27 Meghan Mull 77 (+5) T56 Keri Dugan 81 (+9) T63 Cynthia Skilton 83 (+11) T70 Susan Oliver 84 (+12) - LIONS -