William Penn Wins First League Title in Program History
MCC Women’s Golf Champions – William Penn Lady Statesmen
Riverside–The Statesmen women’s golf team has finally risen to the top of the league mountain as it won the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships Monday and Tuesday.
#22 William Penn finished first out of seven teams with a two-round score of 655 (324-331) at the par-72 Blue Top Ridge Golf Course. Grand View was a distant second at 691, while Viterbo (693) and Mount Mercy (695) were in a tight battle for silver.
Its fifth-straight tourney crown this spring was by far its biggest as it is the first conference title in program history. Women’s golf was reintroduced at the school in 2008-2009, and five seasons later WPU will now represent the MCC at the NAIA National Championships on May 20-23 at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course in Lincoln, Neb.
Demi Coertze (So., Johannesburg, South Africa, Digital Communication) paced the 35-person field to win tournament medalist honors at 158 (80-78).
Maggie Yang (Jr., Chino, Calif., Business Management) was the first round leader, but finished second at 161 (77-84).
“Demi and Maggie have showed leadership qualities on and off the course that have been beneficial to our program,” Head Coach Nik Rule said. “They deserved a 1-2 finish and they helped lead our team to this result.”
The duo headed an all-tournament team that also included Alexandria Eckenrod (Jr., Mason City, Iowa, Elementary Education), who tied for fourth at 166 (80-86).
“Alexandria showed her experience in playing at the college level with her performance,” Rule said. “Her result on day one was impressive,”
Courtney Cunningham (Fr., Muskogee, Okla., Computer Science) tied for 11th at 171 (87-84) and Jing Yang (Fr., Woodland Hills, Calif., Biology) was right behind her in 15th at 172 (87-85).
“Our program does not have classes and this weekend was a perfect example of that,” Rule said. “Courtney and Jing have been the model of consistency all year. They were so focused and showed maturity beyond their years.”
“This is one of the best feelings in the world; I am so proud of our ladies,” Rule added. “Every player on our team worked so hard and all that hard work paid off. We love our University and feel so honored to bring home a conference title. William Penn is a special place and we are honored to compete as Statesmen. We have work left to do, though. Lincoln, here we come!”
