Titans Expected To Contend For WIAC Golf Title
UW-Oshkosh, a top-three finisher at each of the previous five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women's Golf Championships (Presented by Culver's), seeks another top listing when it competes against seven other programs at this weekend's league event in Reedsburg.
The 24th edition of the conference championship begins at noon Friday (Oct. 4) with a shotgun start and continues with flighted tee times starting at 10 a.m. both Saturday (Oct. 5) and Sunday (Oct. 6) at the Reedsburg Country Club.
The winner of the 54-hole WIAC Championship, which is being held at the Reedsburg Country Club for the fourth consecutive year, earns the league's automatic berth to the 2020 NCAA Division III Championship that will be held May 12-15 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
UW-Oshkosh, along with UW-Stout and two-time defending champion UW-Whitewater, are the leading candidates to win this year's league championship.
UW-Whitewater won last year's title with 942 strokes (78-over-par), registering 315 shots during the first and third rounds and a tournament-low 312 in the second.
UW-Stout, the 2016 champion, finished second to the Warhawks with 954 strokes while 2015 champion UW-Oshkosh followed in third place with 960 and UW-River Falls in fourth with 1,003. The Titans accumulated their overall score with daily figures of 321 on the first and second day of play and 318 on the third.
Completing last year's team standings were fifth-place UW-Eau Claire with 1,109 strokes, sixth-place UW-Stevens Point with 1,069, seventh-place UW-La Crosse with 1,081 and eighth-place UW-Platteville with 1,086.
UW-Oshkosh's lineup for this weekend is led by senior Hannah Braun, who recorded a final 18-hole round of 74 strokes to overcome a four-shot deficit and win last year's individual title with 228 overall shots (12-over-par). Braun also placed seventh at the conference championship in 2016 and 10th in 2017.
This season Braun owns a 77.5 stroke average per 18 holes. She finished second at the Division III Classic held Sept. 14-15 and fourth at both the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic held Aug. 31-Sept. 1 and the St. Kate's Invitational held Sept. 21-22.
Sophomore Erika Priebe has enjoyed a strong fall for the Titans as well. She is averaging 77.6 strokes and her top performances include a victory at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Classic and a fourth-place finish at the Wartburg College Invitational held Sept. 7-8. Priebe placed seventh at last year's WIAC Championship with 238 strokes.
Other Titans competing this weekend after performing at last year's league championship are seniors Sophia Mazurek, Hanna Rebholz and Dianna Scheibe; and sophomore Margherite Pettenuzzo.
Pettenuzzo and Rebholz are both averaging 82 stokes this season while Scheibe is averaging 86.1 and Mazurek 95. Pettenuzzo finished sixth and Scheibe eighth at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic, Rebholz ninth at the St. Kate's Invitational and Mazurek 12th at the UW-Stevens Point Mad Dawg Invitational held Sept. 28-29 for their highest rankings of the season.
Rebholz finished ninth at last year's WIAC Championship with 251 strokes while Pettenuzzo placed 26th with 258, Scheibe 37th with 268 and Mazurek 44th with 277. In 2017, Rebholz and Scheibe shared 22nd-place at the league championship while Mazurek finished 37th. Scheibe took 13th place and Rebholz 19th at the 2016 WIAC event.
Also representing UW-Oshkosh this weekend are freshmen Lauryn Davis and Megan Footit and junior Nikki Differt.
Davis is averaging 84.6 strokes this season while Differt is averaging 86.5 and Footit 91.6. Davis was a ninth-place finisher at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic while Differt won the UW-Stevens Point Mad Dawg Invitational. Footit's top effort this season was a 12th-place finish at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Fall Classic.
UW-Eau Claire possesses a league-high nine first-place finishes at the WIAC Championship, while UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater each own four and both UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout three apiece. In addition to 2015, UW-Oshkosh also won conference championships in 2000, 2002 and 2003.
UW-Whitewater's lineup features four individuals who average below 80 strokes per round, including Ashton Sinak with a conference-best 76.4. She broke the program's 18-hole scoring record and tied the program's 36-hole scoring record at the Illinois Wesleyan University Fall Invitational with scores of 72 and 75.
The Warhawks' Kelly Stori, who owns a 77.1 stroke average, secured first place at the Carthage College Battle on the Border. CheyAnn Knudsen has a 77.9 stroke average and is the reigning conference Player of the Year. She claimed medalist honors at the 2017 WIAC Championship. Ashley Hofmeister maintains a 77.5 stroke average and was named the league's Player of the Year in 2017. She captured first place at the 2016 WIAC Championship. Kristin Bowe's 81.5 stroke average rounds out the UW-Whitewater lineup.
UW-Stout's Trystin Kluess boasts a team-best 78.1 stroke average. She claimed first place at the UW-Stout Fall Invitational. Madison McCambridge took first place at the Carthage College Battle on the Border and owns a 79.3 stroke average. Kendra Swanson (82.4 stroke average), Alexa Filipiak (82.9) and Klairissa O'Reilly-Dye (83.1) form the remainder of the Blue Devils lineup.