University of St. Thomas Athletics
MIAC Championships
Women's Golf brings gold trophy back home
10/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
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Thanks in large measure to its sunny Sunday performance, St. Thomas Women's Golf returned to the winners' circle in the 2015 MIAC Championships.
And that means a return Tommie trip to the NCAA Championships after a one-year absence.
Led by Erin Dingmann's hole-in-one and freshman Marja Sorensen's 71, Coach Sara Evens' team posted a record-setting round of 297 on Sunday to take a lead it would never give up.
That school-record total score was two better than the previous MIAC Championships low score of 299 set by Carleton in 2014, and is believed to be the best round ever by a conference women's team.
UST pulled away on Monday's final round and turned a seven-shot cushion to start the morning into a 22-stroke victory over runner-up Carleton.
With four players receiving All-MIAC honors and the fifth also placing in the top 12, St. Thomas had rounds of 329-297-311/937 for the team victory. That secured the league's automatic team berth into the May 2016 NCAA Championships.
Emily Thul tied for second in the 50-player field at 234; Rachel Morris was fifth at 237; Dingmann was sixth at 238; Sorensen tied for ninth at 240; and Megan McCorkle placed 12th at 244.
The top 10 placers received All-MIAC. Morris received her third honor, while Thul and Dingmann took home their second each.
Carleton (959), St. Catherine (967) and St. Ben's (997) took the 2-3-4 spots in the three-day, 10-team tournament at the Bunker Hills course in Coon Rapids.
St. Thomas edged Carleton by a single shot to win the 2013 MIAC crown but fell to third place in last fall's conference tourney as the Knight claimed the title.
UST and Carleton had each won twice head-to-head in four previous fall tournaments.
This was the 10th year of a 54-hole MIAC Championship meet, and UST's 937 total was the second best, two behind Carleton's 935 posted in 2014.
This marks the 17th consecutive fall season that the St. Thomas men or women have won at least one of the eight MIAC team championships.
Sunday story
St. Thomas Women's Golf shot the lowest round in MIAC Championships history on Sunday to soar into the team lead after two days.
The final 18 holes of the 54-hole tourney will tee off Monday at Coon Rapids' Bunker Hills course, with the winner taking the automatic berth into the May 2016 national meet.
Led by freshman Marja Sorensen's personal collegiate-best 71, the Tommies' 297 score broke a school record by seven strokes and bettered the previous tournament record of 299 shot by Carleton on the final day of the 2014 event. It's also believed to be the best round by any conference women's team.
Sorensen's round tied the low score by a female in any MIAC Championships meet.
UST started the day five shots behind first-place Carleton at 329. Its two-day total of 626 is seven better than Carleton (633). St. Catherine is in third at 648.
The Toms have four players in the top 10 and five in the top 16.
Emily Thul (73), Erin Dingmann (76), Rachel Morris (77) and Morgan McCorkle (82) joined Sorensen's 71 on Sunday's record round. Sorensen recorded a 90 to open play on Saturday.
Dingmann is in second place at 154, four behind leader Grace Gilmore of Carleton.
Saturday story
The Tommies shot 329 on Saturday at the opening day of the MIAC Championships at Coon Rapids' Bunker Hills course.
UST is five shots behind first-place Carleton and one behind second-place St. Catherine.
Erin Dingmann shot 78 and is in second place, Emily Thul shot 83 and is tied for ninth.
Players Mentioned
