Loading ...Kylie Bridenhagen/Winonan
After a two consecutive NCAA Central Regional Tournament appearances, head coach Julie Hennessy, seniors Samantha Koste and Paige Schmidt, junior Erin Schneider, and sophomores Kelly Blegen and Katie Blegen return to the Warrior women’s golf lineup.
Although the Warriors have been moved into a newer, and harder regional, Koste believes “the team is very tough” and will again make it to the regional meet.
New to the team are freshman Jessica Reagan and Kayley Borkowski.
Last year, the Warriors placed fifth as a team and Schmidt was overall seventh at the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.
From this regional meet, Schmidt advanced on to the NCAA Division II Championships, which was played over four rounds.
Schmidt shot 88-82-84-85 to place 54th overall.
Also last year, Schmidt had an 82.3 stroke average, which ranked her 7th in the NSIC.
The Warriors started out their fall season at the Husky Triangular this past weekend in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
After first round play on Saturday, the team had a score of 363.
They were only three shots back from Bemidji State and 13 shots behind St. Cloud State.
The senior pair was tied for third with an 84.
Schneider was overall third for the Warriors with a 97.
Reagan and Barkowski rounded out the team score with 98 and 99.
The triangular meet concluded on Sunday, where the Warriors placed third behind Bemidji State and the champions and host of the meet, St. Cloud State. Schmidt, who was tied for third the previous day, ended her tournament with an individual championship title, with a 76.
Her combined score of 160 was five shots ahead of the second place medalist, Rachael Wold of St. Cloud State.
Koste who feels “more confident and ready to shoot low this season,” did just that.
Her combined score of 168 over the weekend was enough to earn her the third place title.
With this being Koste’s senior year, she is also hoping to be stronger than she was in the past because she has “built up her game.”
Schneider shot a combined score of 186, which placed her 14th overall.
The other Warrior golfers placed in the top 20.
Reagan placed tie for 16th with a combined score of 190. Borkowski shot a 199, which was good for 19th place.
With such a successful start to the season, expect the Warriors to shine again at the Concordia University Invitational on Sept. 16 and 17 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The Winona State men’s golf team also started their season this weekend on a high note.
The Warrior team this year is very young—having no seniors. With a team of 12, seven of these newcomers are talented freshman.
Juniors Alex Zeyen and Tyler Schmude lead the team, both of which played at the NSIC Championships last year, where Winona State finished eighth overall.
Brian Paulson is coaching the Warriors in his first season as head coach this year.
Paulson is one of the best golfers in Warrior history. He helped his team at the time to earn four conference titles.
Individually, he won conference medalist honors in 1991, and was a three-time All- American while playing under the purple and white colors.
This past weekend, the team opened up their season playing at the Bemidji State Invitational in Bemidji, Minnesota.
During first round play, the team sat in first place, four shots ahead of Minot State in second, and five shots better than third place Manitoba, with a combined team score of 294.
Individually, Zeyen is in first place with 70. Mitch Holm is tied for second with 72.
Tied for fourth is Schmude.
Troy Salewske is tied for 30th with a 79.
Aaron Forgaard is sitting tied at 61st place after shooting 85. This invitational concludes on Monday, September 10 and results are pending.
Look for the rest of the team results to be announced at www.winonastatewarriors. com.
