2015 MIAC Championship Meet Preview
MIAC women's golf preview courtesy of Matt Higgins and the MIAC office
Click here for the complete MIAC women's golf preview
COON RAPIDS, Minn. -- At the 2014 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Golf Championships, the Carleton College women's golf team didn't just win their first-ever conference title ... they turned in a performance for the ages. Now, as the 2015 conference meet gets set to tee off Saturday at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids, Minn., the main question is whether the Knights can duplicate their dominance, or if another team will burst into the winner's circle in similarly impressive fashion.
The Carleton women's ascension to the top of the MIAC was dramatic, as they dominated the 2014-15 season en route to their first MIAC title a year ago, and a sixth-place tie at the NCAA Championships. Carleton's record-setting MIAC Championships performance en route to its first-ever championship included conference meet records for overall score (935), 36-hole score (610) and 18-hole score (299).
Bethel was second in 2014 with 956, St. Thomas shot a 964 to take third and Gustavus (982) edged Saint Benedict (984) and St. Catherine (985) in a close race for fourth. St. Olaf (1,007) took seventh, Concordia (1,022) was eighth, Macalester (1,044) finished ninth and Augsburg (1,094) and Saint Mary's (1,099) rounded out the rest of the standings a year ago.
This season, the Knights and the 2013 champion Tommies both appear to be at the front of the class, as Carleton leads the MIAC with a 313.9 stroke average, with UST close behind at 314.6. St. Catherine has continued its rapid growth as a young program with the MIAC's third-best average of 320.6, and Gustavus (327.8) and Bethel (329.8) both round out the top five on the team leader board.
Saint Benedict has the sixth-best scoring average of 333.8, St. Olaf (350.8) is seventh and Augsburg (359.9) checks in at No. 8. Macalester (367.8) and Saint Mary's (368.9) round out the final two spots heading into the 2015 MIAC Championships.
Though Carleton has 2014-15 MIAC Player-of-the-Year Shannon Holden studying abroad this semester, the Knights still have high hopes for another title, led by last year's MIAC Championships medalist Grace Gilmore, who is a two-time All-MIAC and All-Region golfer with a MIAC-leading 76.5 scoring average in 2015. Carleton will count on a pair of rookies - Ziyi Wang (78.1) and Ayumi Sakamoto (79.3) - making their MIAC debuts, with All-MIAC junior Geraldine Tellbuescher (80.0) also back in the lineup.
The Tommies have had a fantastic fall, which has them thinking about adding another title to their 2013 crown. UST enters the MIAC Championships with two of the three top individual scoring averages in the conference, with Rachel Morris (76.9) ranking second and Emily Thul (77.4) in third. Erin Dingmann has an 80.6 scoring average and gives St. Thomas another talented veteran atop the lineup.
St. Catherine has made dramatic improvement in the young history of its program, and the Wildcats are hoping to continue their ascension in 2015. Standout rookie Sydney Busker leads St. Kate's and is the top five in the MIAC with a 78.9 scoring average, and junior Abby Conzemius isn't far behind at 79.6. Gustavus has its sights set on another top-four MIAC finish with a pair of talented golfers leading the way in 2015. Junior Mae Meierhenry and sophomore McKenzie Swenson have near-identical averages of 80.6 and 80.8, respectively, and they hope to lead the Gusties to a strong showing at the MIAC meet.
Bethel turned in the best MIAC Championships finish - second place - in team history a year ago, and the Royals are hoping to contend again in 2015 with a pair of All-MIAC players back. Christine Piwnica was the individual runner-up and MIAC Rookie-of-the-Year in 2014-15, and junior Leah Swanson joined her on the All-MIAC team. Saint Benedict returns talented senior Lauren Wise, who was an All-MIAC pick last year and has three top-10 finishes this fall, and rookie Natalie Amundson leads the Blazers with a stroke average of 80.6 this season.
St. Olaf is hoping to return to the top half of the MIAC standings after finishing seventh last season, with the Oles counting on the Carney duo to lead the way. Sophomore Meaghan Carney leads the way with an 85.5 stroke average, while senior Shannon Carney is one of the team's upperclass leaders. Concordia has senior Haley Johnson back atop the lineup in 2015 as the Cobbers also hope to improve on their eighth-place finish from a year ago. Sophomore Erin Pennington is right behind Johnson in scoring average and hopes to help lead Concordia this weekend.
Augsburg has junior Chelsea Crego back atop its lineup after finishing in the top 45 at each of the last two MIAC Championships, as the Auggies look for improvement in 2015. Macalester has several of its key players back as it looks for upward mobility, led by Jessica Yost and her top 25 individual finish at last year's MIAC meet.Saint Mary's is in its first season under head coach Greg Moore, and sophomore Kaitlin Kling looks to build on her team-leading average of 86.6 shots per round.
The three-day, 54-hole MIAC Golf Championships will tee off Saturday at 11:20 a.m. at Bunker Hills. Sunday's second round will also tee off at 11:20 a.m., and Monday's final round will tee off at 9 a.m. Spectators are welcome to attend and there is no admission fee, and spectators are encouraged to read and follow the tournament's spectator rules.
There will be a short awards ceremony following Monday's final round to honor the top teams and individuals. The championship team will receive the MIAC championship plaque, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Golf Championships. The top 10 individual finishers will be named to the All-Championship team, and will be automatically eligible for All-Conference honors in the spring.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
There are numerous ways fans that aren't traveling to Coon Rapids can follow all the action throughout the tournament. The MIAC has enhanced its (unofficial) live scoring, and now offers hole-by-hole updates through Golfstat's live scoring system. Fans will easily be able to track team and individual progress throughout all three rounds.
The MIAC has a championship home page for the event, that will serve as the online home of the tournament. The championship page will include tee times, pairings and results as they become available, as well as recaps, photos and more.
