Statesmen 18th After First Day at Nationals
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Lincoln, Neb.–Fighting through a touch of nerves, the William Penn women’s golf team battled to the middle of the pack after the first day at the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships Tuesday.
The Statesmen, making their first-ever trip to nationals, posted a 331 (+43 over par) to sit 18th out of 27 teams at the par-72 Wilderness Ridge Golf Course. #2 Oklahoma City is pacing the way at 302, while #1 SCAD Savannah (Ga.) is right behind at 304. SCAD Savannah was grouped with WPU on Tuesday and the pair will again join up with #11 Victoria (B.C.) for Wednesday’s second round (1 p.m. tee time). Victoria is 21st at 337 after Tuesday.
With just four teams under 310, William Penn is only 21 strokes from being fifth and 14 shots out of the top ten. The tough course only permitted five players to shoot ever par or better with Bri LaFoca of Northwood (Fla.) headlining the 144-player leaderboard at one-under 71.
The Statesmen lineup was consistent from top to bottom as the five scorers were separated by just five strokes. Maggie Yang (Jr., Chino, Calif., Business Management) guided the crew in a tie for 47th with an 80 (38-42). The junior had two birdies on her front nine, but had some struggles down the stretch to just miss out on the 70s.
Demi Coertze (So., Johannesburg, South Africa, Digital Communication) was next, tying for 61st at 82 (42-40), while an 84 (43-41) from Jing Yang (Fr., Woodland Hills, Calif., Biology) put her in a tie for 82nd.
Coertze started slowing, but ended the day strong with one of the only three eagles recorded at the Championships–posting a three on the par-five 18th hole. Coertze and Jing Yang each had a birdie Tuesday.
Alexandria Eckenrod (Jr., Mason City, Iowa, Elementary Education), who did not have birdie in her round (40-45), and Courtney Cunningham (Fr., Muskogee, Okla., Computer Science), who had two birdies (42-43), both signed off on identical 85s to tie for 92nd.
“We certainly did not play our best today, but we did not play ourselves out of the tournament,” Head Coach Nik Rule said. “We just have to stay mentally tough for the next three days. We spoke about that after today’s round and feel confident we can make the necessary adjustments. This was the first national tournament round in program history and we handled the pressure. Now we know what to expect and just have to grind and compete.”
