History was made at the NJCAA National Championships with the Iowa Western women's golf team securing a 3rd place finish. The finish represents the highest finish in program history and the first trophy won at the competition.
The women had to shoot their best round of the tournament on the final day to catch and pass Western Texas CC who was sitting in 3rd place after day three. The Westerners held a 12 stroke advantage over the Reivers to start the final round but the Reivers fired a team score of 312 to overtake Western Texas by five strokes.
"Preparing the team prior to traveling to Nationals, I told the team that every team has at least 1 bad round and every player has at least 1 bad round. You just need to manage how bad those rounds are and grind it out", said Head Coach Matt Robinson. "I gathered the ladies together before the final round and pointed out that Western Texas had yet to have their bad round and that we need to put pressure on them right from the start, and we did".
Sophomores Luisa Gibson and Seira Kubo led the day with rounds of 75 (3-over par) followed by Katie Graham with an 80 and Madi Schlaepfer with an 82. Katie Schweers had her best round of the tournament and shot a 91.
"All five of these players did something special at one point in this tournament", said Robinson. "They should all feel proud with what they accomplished and the history that they made down here in Florida."
Gibson earned NJCAA 2nd team All-American honors with her play and Kubo earned Honorable Mention All-American honors. Gibson and Kubo will move on to play for Coastal Carolina University and Ferris State University respectfully. Schweers also ended her Junior College competition and will move on to play for Upper Iowa University.
This year's squad finished the year with five first-place team finishes, three top 4 team finishes, Plains District Champions, and a 3rd place finish at the National Championships.
