After a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Upper Iowa Invitational on April 5 and a third-place finish out of four teams at the Viterbo (Wis.) Quadrangular April 9, the Winona State University men’s golf team responded with the kind of play that earned them a fifth consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title in October.
Freshman Keegan Drugan shot a 73 Sunday afternoon, sharing medalist honors and leading WSU to a first-place finish at the Jewel Invitational in Lake City, Minn.
The Warriors posted a 303 — their best score of the spring season — and edged second-place Upper Iowa by three strokes.
Kevin Loeffler and Ross Wilhelm each shot a 75 to tie for fifth place, and Brady Strangstalien, the two-time defending NSIC individual champion, finished 11th with a 77. John Kirk followed with a 78 to finish in a tie for 12th place.
The Winona State University women’s golf team also took a step in the right direction April 6, recovering from a seventh-place finish in gusty conditions at the Upper Iowa Spring Classic to place second at the Viterbo Triangular April 9.
Megan Placko shot an 83 and finished in a tie for second place to lead WSU, which shot a 348 — 23 strokes behind first-place Upper Iowa.
Courtney Sovereign finished seventh (87), Hilary Botten tied for eighth (88), and Tara Christensen and Katie Schuller both tied for 10th (90) to lead the Warriors, who posted their best team score of the spring.
The triangular provided one final tuneup before the final portion of the NSIC championships, which were scheduled to take place last weekend but were moved to Thursday and Friday because of poor weather conditions.
“I think having the conference championships being delayed was a very good thing, actually,” WSU coach Erika Vail said. “The weather was going to be horrible; we were looking at possibly 10 inches of snow. It gave us another four days to practice and get ready, and I think the girls are much more prepared.”
WSU completed the fall portion of the NSIC championships in third place, posting a 665 over the two-day tournament at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker, Minn. The Warriors trail second-place Concordia-St. Paul by four strokes and first-place and defending champion Upper Iowa by 40 strokes. The spring portion will be played in Yankton, S.D.
Placko is in second place after posting a 10-over-par 154. The WSU junior is six shots behind tournament leader Rachael Schmidt, who scored a 148 for Upper Iowa.
Christensen is alone in seventh place (161), and Sovereign is tied for 16th (174).
“Our goal is to overtake Concordia-St. Paul for second place,” Vail said. “We’re only four strokes back, and I’m really looking forward to this week because I think we can do really well.”