TROJANS CRUISE TO SECOND STRAIGHT CROSSROADS LEAGUE TITLE
ANGOLA, Ind. – The Taylor women’s golf team dominated on its way to a second straight Crossroads League championship on Tuesday.
The 16th-ranked Trojans led wire-to-wire and pulled away for an 18-shot victory at the 54-hole Crossroads League championship played at Glendarin Hills Golf Club. With the win the Trojans earn the Crossroads League’s automatic bid into the NAIA National Championship later this month.
The Trojans entered Tuesday’s final round with a 13-shot advantage over Indiana Wesleyan and TU navigated the beautiful but challenging 5,856-yard, par-72 layout of Glendarin Hills well amid breezy conditions. Taylor extended its lead with a final round team score of 320, the best team score of the day, to pull away from the field for a comfortable winning margin.
Freshman Nicole Jung carded the low round of the day among the 41-player field on Tuesday as the Santa Cruz, Bolivia native tallied a 4-over par 76 to lead the Trojans. Jung entered the final round trailing Marissa Singer of Saint Francis by four shots but Jung erased the deficit midway through the final round. The freshman caught a bad break in a bunker of the par-5 18th hole which led to a bogey and left her one shot behind Singer who won her second straight Crossroads League individual medalist honor.
Junior Elizabeth Jackson added a final round 79 for Taylor while the Trojans also counted an 82 from sophomore Maddie Thomas and a pair of 83’s from freshman Taylor French and sophomore Annie Stimmel.
All five Trojans finished inside the top 15 in the individual standings. Jung finished in second with a three-round total of 229 (75-78-76). Thomas added a sixth place finish at 242 (75-85-82) followed by Jackson in a tie for eighth at 245 (82-84-79). French (83-82-83) and Stimmel 84-81-83) tied for 15th place at 248.
Taylor finished with a three-round total of 960 (315-325-320) to cruise to the win. Marian was second at 978 (330-326-322) followed by Indiana Wesleyan at 980 (327-326-327), Grace at 982 (326-332-324), and Saint Francis at 988 (329-338-321).
“This win was a lot of fun,” Taylor coach Cameron Andry said after the round. “We competed and hung in there for 54 holes and I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and attitude from the entire team.”
Taylor will now return to PGA National in West Palm Beach, Florida for the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship slated for May 22-25.