Springfield, Ohio – After several years of near misses, the Wittenberg University women’s golf team broke through to win the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship and earn the opportunity to compete for a national championship for the first time in the program’s 12-year history. The Tigers, ranked No. 7 nationally, will compete in the 2015 NCAA Division III Tournament May 12-15 at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
The tournament, hosted by Oglethorpe University, will include 21 teams and a total of 111 competitors. The Tigers were one of 16 teams to qualify automatically after winning the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championship for the first time.
Wittenberg has finished first in eight of its 11 tournaments in the 2014-15 season, including wins in three straight competitions to close the campaign. The last two tournament victories combined to give the Tigers the NCAC Championship Series title by a stunning 71 strokes over runner-up DePauw, the three-time defending champion.
The Tigers head into the national competition ranked seventh nationally in scoring average. In 22 rounds, Wittenberg’s student-athletes have posted an impressive average score of 80.14, As a team, Wittenberg’s scoring average is 315.86, including a record-setting round of 300 at historic Springfield Country Club on the final day of NCAC Championship Series #2 on Sunday, May 3.
Freshman Jane Hopkinson-Wood (Pottstown, Pa./The Hill School) was named the NCAC’s Player of the Year after winning four tournaments and posting nine top-five finishes during the 2014-15 season. She finished in the top 10 in all 11 of Wittenberg’s tournaments during her inaugural collegiate campaign, and she leads the Tigers with a 76.91 scoring average, which is good for ninth in all of NCAA Division III.
Sophomore Macy Hubbard (Mason, Ohio/Mason) is the Tigers’ hottest player heading into the national competition after winning the four-round NCAC Championship Series by a whopping 13 strokes to run away with the league’s Championship Medalist trophy. For the season, Hubbard ranks third on the team and 50th in the country with a scoring average of 80.14.
Senior Nicole Waers (Canton, Ohio/Perry) stands second on the team and 40th in the nation with a 79.45 stroke average. Rounding out the Tigers’ lineup are junior Maggie Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) with a scoring average of 80.50 to rank fourth on the team and 58th nationally, and junior Allie Lawwill (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown) with a scoring average of 81.83 to rank fifth on the team and just outside the top 100 in all of NCAA Division III.
Head Coach Jeff Roope, now in his eighth season leading the Red & White, has earned five NCAC Coach of the Year awards for his work with the men’s team and two awards on the women’s side.
Written By: Ryan Maurer