Plainswomen Conclude Season At National Championship

The Plainswomen golf team recently finished their season at the NJCAA National Championship in Mesa, AZ at Long Bow Golf Club. This was the first time that the golf team had made it to the National Tournament, so being there was a milestone in itself. The women knew it would be a long tournament because it would consist of four days. Throughout the year, Northeastern has only played two-day tournaments, so playing four days in a row would be a new challenge for them. With the stage set, the fairways mowed, and the greens rolled, the Plainswomen were ready for the tournament to begin.

Day one of the tournament would be a day in which the women would get accustomed to the tournament and how the course was laid out. Baily Kreider would shoot a 103, Jessica Salazar would score a 106, Caitlyn Jacobs a 110, and Rachel Rael would shoot a 128. Their team total would be a 447 and place them in 20th place. With the tournament still in its infancy, the women would have three more days to improve their scores.

The second day of the tournament would be their best as individuals and as a team. Baily Kreider would shoot a 99, Caitlyn Jacobs would shoot a 102, Jessica Salazar a 103, and Rachel Rael a 116. Their team total would be a 420, which would be their best day in the tournament. Kreider was working herself up the leaderboards, and if she kept shooting sub 100's, would give her a chance at placing in the 60's.

The third day would prove to be one of the hardest days for the Plainswomen. As mentioned before, they were accustomed to only playing in two-day tournaments, so with the first two days in the books, their third day would come with some mental challenges. Caitlyn Jacobs would shoot the lowest score on the team this day by scoring a 102, Baily Kreider would shoot a 104, Jessica Salazar a 108, and Rachel Rael a 131. The Arizona heat and losing tournament would take its toll on some of the girls where some would shine. The final score for that day would be a 445, which would be the second highest of the tournament behind the opening round.

The fourth and final day was a day for the girls to enjoy the tournament and play relaxed. The team would be statistically unable to win the tournament, so the pressure was off, so they were competing for pride and bragging rights. Jessica Salazar would play her best round this day and would shoot a 97, Baily Kreider would shoot a 99, Caitlyn Jacobs a 100, and Rachel Rael a 128. Their total for that round would be a 424.

With the tournament completed and the scores tallied, Northeastern would finish with a score of 1736 which would put them in 20th place. As individuals, Baily Kreider would lead the Plainswomen with a total score of 405, placing her tied at 98th. Caitlyn Jacobs and Jessica Salazar would finish tied at 105th as they would both shoot a 414. Rachel Rael would finish in 115th place with her score of 503.

Congratulations Plainswomen on your accomplishments and taking your team to their first national championship in Plainswomen golf history!