Eagles golf finishes strong in NCCAA

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye

 

Junior Anna Arrese Cortadellas continued her scoring streak, finishing in the top 10 for the 21st straight tournament, while the Oklahoma Christian Lady Eagles golf team finished in third place in the NCCAA National Championship.

A first-place victory was on the minds of the Lady Eagles heading into the national tournament, played at the Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla., a site where a year ago the Lady Eagles finished runner-up in their first ever NCCAA tournament.

This year was the Lady Eagles’ last chance to leave their mark on the NCCAA, as next year they will be eligible to compete in NCAA Division II play.

After day one of the tournament, the Lady Eagles were still in contention, but tied for fourth place 15 strokes behind the leader, Dallas Baptist University.

On day one, all five of Dallas Baptist’s golfers shot 77 or lower. The par at Hombre is 72.

For the Lady Eagles, Cortadellas shot a two-over 74, followed by sophomore Audrey Meisch, who shot a three-over 75. Three freshmen playing for the Lady Eagles rounded out the top five for Oklahoma Christian: Allison Sell shot 81, India Matthews fired an 83 and Dana Todd finished with an 84.

Day two saw the Lady Eagles make a measurable improvement, with a collective 11 shots less as a team, for a combined score of 302. With the lower score, the Lady Eagles were also able to move up in the overall standings to finish in third place.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma Christian, Dallas Baptist had a great day as well, matching their first-round finish and shooting 298 as a team. Dallas Baptist extended their lead from 15 to 19 strokes.

Lee University also tied with Dallas Baptist for first place at 20-over-par as a team.

Meisch had the best day two for the Lady Eagles, shooting an even par 72 to move her into third place individually. Cortadellas finished the day with a 77, tying for eighth place and keeping her top-10 streak alive.

Day three for the Eagles was a median of day one and day two. Shooting a 308 combined as a team, Oklahoma Christian won third place outright, beating their closest competitor by 12 strokes.

Lee University had their best day of the tournament and pulled away from Dallas Baptist, taking first place for the tournament title.

For the Lady Eagles Cortadellas had her best round of the tournament, shooting a one-over 73 to give her a third-place finish overall. The junior has now finished in the top 10 in every tournament she has played in as a collegiate golfer.

Meisch rounded off her performance with a day-three 79, enough for a seventh-place finish overall.

Matthews finished third for the Lady Eagles and tied for 20th overall for the tournament, shooting a total score of 236. Sell also finished in the top 30 overall, with a total score of 239.

Todd finished in the top 50 of the tournament, shooting a 249 overall.

This year’s team did not feature any senior golfers, meaning the Lady Eagles will return their entire team from this season.

More good news for the Lady Eagles will be the return of junior Catherine Odgers to the team, who was a top-five golfer for Oklahoma Christian last year.

Trailing by only one stroke headed into the third and final day of the NCCAA National Tournament, the men’s golf team was in position to defend their title. A slow start and windy conditions would prove to be too much though, leaving the Eagles with a fourth-place finish for the tournament.

The Eagles entered the day one shot behind Lee University and tied with Dallas Baptist with a combined score of 579.

Sophomore Sam Johnston finished second overall for the tournament, shooting a three under par to contribute to his final score of  213 over the course of three days.

Junior Taylor Williams finished second for the Eagles with three rounds of 73, 67 and 73 respectively.

Senior Alasdair Dalgliesh also finished in the top 25 overall for the tournament, shooting 223 over three days of play.

The Eagles were in fifth place after day one. The leader, Dallas Baptist, had broken away from the field. Second place to fifth place were decided by just two-strokes.

Oklahoma Christian had a strong second day performance, improving from a 292 day one score and shooting 287 as a team. Day two also saw the field come much closer, as the Eagles tied for second with Dallas Baptist University and Lee University took first place with only a one-stroke lead.

The Eagles shot 300 on day three though, earning them a fourth-place finish just one stroke behind third place Southern Wesleyan University and nine shots behind the victorious Lee University.