EL DORADO, AR: Fresh off of receiving the program's first ever top-10 national ranking, the 9th ranked Texas Wesleyan University women's golf team claimed its first victory on Tuesday. The Lady Rams shot a final round 318 at Mystic Creek to win Southern Arkansas University's Mulerider Spring Classic by a whopping 67 strokes.
Texas Wesleyan University women's golf is in just its third season and this was the program's 29th tournament all-time. The tournament featured two NAIA squads in Texas Wesleyan and Loyola-New Orleans and two NCAA Division II teams in Southern Arkansas and Harding University. Loyola placed second at 722. Southern Arkansas was third at 736, and Harding was fourth at 758.
Alexis Belton became the program's first two-time winner by shooting 77-77-154 on the par 72 - 5,843 yard course. Belton became the program's first individual winner when she topped the field at UT-Tyler's Al Jones Memorial last season. Four of the top-five finishers were all Lady Rams as
Alex Schies placed second at 84-75-159,
Taylor Icenberger tied for third at 171, and
Jacey Patton finished fifth at 174.
The top individual not wearing Texas Wesleyan Blue and Gold was Harding's Brittany Marquez who tied with Icenberger at 171.
Stephanie Kalapach tied for eighth at 179 after contributing a second round 83.
Jessica Liptak and
Stephanie Myers also competed as individuals. Liptak finished 21st and Myers 22nd.
This season has seen the program take off under the guidance of head coach
Kevin Millikan. The Lady Rams have been ranked in every NAIA coaches' poll, moving into the top-10 last week. They have also set program records for individual and team scoring through 18, 36, and 54 holes. Their current scoring average of 78.34 is more than two shots better than last season and eight shots better than their inaugural campaign.
This was the final regular season tune-up for the Rams. They will return to action April 20-21 at the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship hosted by Oklahoma City University at Twin Hills Country Club. The SAC currently features four nationally ranked teams. In addition to the Rams, Oklahoma City is ranked 4th, Wayland Baptist 12th, and Oklahoma Baptist 24th.
Fin. Player Scores
1 Alexis Belton 77 77 154
2 Alex Schies 84 75 159
T3 Taylor Icenberger 85 86 171
5 Jacey Patton 91 83 174
T8 Stephanie Kalapach 96 83 179
1 Texas Wesleyan 337 318 655
21 Jessica Liptak 104 110 217
22 Stephanie Myers 107 108 220 Ramblings
- The Texas Wesleyan Women's Golf Program had posted four runner-up finishes including two this season.
- The Lady Rams have notched six top-5 and seven top-10 finishes in eight events this season.
- The Lady Rams had had two previous individual winners,
Alexis Belton at UT-Tyler last season, and
Alex Schies at Houston-Victoria this season.
