Collecting Hardware
When Northeastern State won the Midwestern State Invitational earlier this week some began speculating this may be the year the RiverHawks return to prominence among the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Elite.
For speculation to become reality, however, one must remember there's still a large portion of the rugged spring slate to finish for this youthful bunch. Head coach Scott Varner's squad, which won the MSU tourney, consists of one senior, two sophomores and two redshirt freshmen. Kelsey Kirkpatrick, a sophomore, finished as runner-up in the medalist race. Redshirt freshman Michelle Miron, on the strength of her final-round 73, was tied for 3rd and sophomore standout Whitney McAteer tied for 7th.
"The Midwestern State win was our biggest since we won the Lone Star Conference Tournament in 2006," said Varner afterwards. "We have won several tournament since that time, but none bigger as far as strength of competition in the field."
NSU, rated 23rd in the latest Golfstat rankings, outclassed the field, which featured six teams in the Top 25, four of those rated higher than the RiverHawks. That also gave Varner hope for his team's future.
"This win has huge regional implications for us," he said. "Kelsey (Kirkpatrick) and Michelle (Miron) were awesome and Whitney showed a lot of class on her final two holes. She knew she was out of the running for the individual title and she did what she had to do on No. 17 and No. 18 for our team to win. With everyone waiting on her to finish on 18, it was fun!
"I would classify this as a total team effort and I am proud of every one of them. Every shot saved was necessary."
Northeastern State ended the two-day event with 617, a shot ahead of St. Edward's and four better than Central Oklahoma. Midwestern State, the host, was tied with NSU to begin the day, but fell to 4th at 623.
The RiverHawks will be idle next week before heading to Phoenix, Ariz., on April 4-5 to participate in the Grand Canyon Invitational.
