Women's Golf Claims 3rd Consecutive G-MAC Title
Lexington, Ky. - The University of Findlay women's golf team has officially shifted the balance of power in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), finishing 27 strokes ahead of second-place Tiffin on Saturday, April 17 at the University Club of Kentucky's challenging Big Blue golf course. Prior to the Oilers arrival in the conference in 2017, Trevecca Nazarene had won all five of the G-MAC's women's golf titles, but on Saturday, the Oilers fired a 54-hole score of 901 (297, 300, 304) to secure their third consecutive G-MAC Championship and fourth consecutive conference title overall as they won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in 2017. Although it was a 27-shot victory, that is the smallest gap between a G-MAC Champion and the runner-up since 2015 when Trevecca Nazarene defeated Ursuline by just six shots.
On Saturday, Freshman Gabby Woods won medalist honors, becoming the first freshman to earn medalist at the G-MAC Championship since Trevecca's Mikayla Dodson won as a freshman in the inaugural G-MAC Championship in 2013. Woods put together a three-round score of 224 (71, 76, 77), one stroke ahead of senior teammate, Kristina Kniesly, who finished with a 225 (74, 75, 76). Woods led the field with nine birdies at the tournament while Kniesly, now a three-time first-team all-G-MAC performer, led the field in par-3 scoring at 3.00 and par-5 scoring at 4.75.
Junior Jill Schmitmeyer, fresh off her second career win last week that earned her G-MAC Athlete of the Week honors, finished third with a 227 (75, 72, 80) to earn the first all-conference award of her career. Junior Danbi Kim also earned first-team all-conference as she tied for fifth with a 230 (77, 77, 76). Both players ranked second at the tournament with seven birdies apiece.
Senior Meredith Wipper, 2019's G-MAC Championship medalist and now four-time all-conference honoree, also recorded a top-10 finish as she tied for eighth with a 233 (80, 78, 75).
As a team, the Oilers led the tournament with 32 birdies and 159 pars and all five of their golfers earned all-conference honors for their performance at the event.
The Oilers will now prepare for the NCAA Division II Super Regional, which will be held on May 3-5 at Prairie View Golf Course in Carmel, Ind.