Women's Golf gets ready for Oct. 3-5 MIAC tourney

September 29, 2009

St. Thomas will try to record the school's 10th consecutive top-two team placing when the 2009 MIAC Championships take place Oct. 3-5 at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids.

UST had a seven-year team title streak snapped last fall when it finished nine strokes back of champion Gustavus.

Two of the Tommies' seven players on their fall roster have been sidelined with injuries, including senior Laura Heck, a two-time All-American. Heck is recovering from a serious back injury and will not compete this fall.

In Heck's absence, UST has finished 10th, fifth, sixth and second in four fall multi-team competitions.

Seniors Amy Anderson, Katie Mich and Kelly Westerham, sophomore Shannon Richter, and freshman Cassy Norton competed last weekend at the St. Ben’s Fall Classic. That quintet led the Tommies to second place in the six-team field behind St. Cloud State.

Anderson has been a top-five finisher at three of the four fall tournaments and has an 80.1 stroke average for eight rounds. She tied for fifth in the 2007 MIAC meet and was 13th last season. At the May 2009 NCAA meet, Anderson (80-78-84-84/326) tied for 24th overall in a field of 111 players.

Mich was on study abroad in fall 2008 and missed the MIAC tournament. She’s averaging 83.5 on eight rounds this fall. Norton is averaging 87.7 and Richter has a, 88.1 average this fall.

At last May's NCAA meet, the Tommies competed without the injured Heck and took 17th out of 21 teams. Coach Sara Evens' team was in the national tournament for the fifth time in the last eight seasons. UST also placed fifth nationally in 2007 and seventh in 2008.

Heck, the conference meet medalist in both 2007 and 2008, was named MIAC Player of the Year in 2008-09 after posting a conference-low 78.7 stroke average.