Champions Once Again
Lexington, Ky. – The University of Findlay women's golf team asserted themselves as the top team in the league on Saturday, April 20, outlasting the field at the 2019 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship held at the University Club of Lexington, winning the event by 33 shots. Ranked 12th in the country, the Oilers' women finished with their best round of the 54-hole tournament, battling the cold, wind, and rain to shoot a 300 (+16) on Saturday, finishing the event with a three-round score of 932 (+80). The conference championship is the third consecutive for the Oilers who won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) title in 2017 and captured the G-MAC crown in 2018.
Claiming her spot atop the tournament was junior Meredith Wipper who earned G-MAC Championship Medalist after posting the only sub-par round of the tournament, a final round 70 (-1) to secure the win. It is just the third time the Oilers have earned medalist honors at the conference championship, each of which have happened consecutively from 2017-2019. Wipper finished with a 54-hole score of 224 (+11), five shots ahead of field. In Saturday's round, the Hilton Head, South Carolina native began with seven pars before making a double-bogey on the par 3, eighth. She birdied three of the next five holes and made par on the final five to add to what is already an impressive resume that includes four tournament victories, three all-conference awards, the 2017 GLIAC Freshman of the Year award, and now conference medalist and three-time conference champion.
Finishing in a tie for second is senior Makenzie Torres, Findlay's only other conference medalist. Torres, who finished atop the 2017 GLIAC and 2018 G-MAC Championships, fired a 74 (+3) in Saturday's final round to earn a second place finish. She had a 54-hole score of 229 (+16) and earns her fourth consecutive all-conference honor, the sixth golfer at Findlay to earn all-conference in each of her four seasons.
Also earning all-conference by finishing in a tie for fifth is senior Samantha Hatter who shot a 78 (+7) on Saturday to finish with a 237 (+24) for the event. It is her third consecutive all-conference award. Hatter struggled out of the gate on Saturday, shooting a 41 on the front nine, but came back with a 37 on the back to earn her spot in the top five.
Sophomore Kristina Kniesly shot her best round of the tournament on Saturday, posting a 78 (+7) to finish with a 242 (+29) and earn a top ten finish, ending the event in a tie for tenth. Kniesly, the 2018 G-MAC Freshman of the Year, finished fourth in the tournament in par 4 scoring at +17.
Rounding out the lineup was freshman Jill Schmitmeyer who posted a 79 (+8) on Saturday to end the tournament in a tie for 16th with a 247 (+34).
Earning a top-ten finish and competing as an individual was junior Samantha Kellstrom who ended the tournament in seventh after shooting an 80 (+9) on Saturday. Kellstrom finished with a 238 (+25) for the event.
The Oilers, ranked second in the east region, now have their sights set on the NCAA DII Regional which will be held May 6-8