Belles Finish Second in Standings, Bown Earns Sportsmanship Award

Results

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. - The Saint Mary's golf team ended the fall season with their best score while finishing second in the overall conference standings.

The Belles shot a 327 to finish in second place in the final MIAA standings by 53 strokes over third place Calvin. Olivet, meanwhile, won their third consecutive MIAA title by a 75-stroke margin. Olivet's Adrienne Plourde was the event medalist and the season medalist to earn Most Valuable Golfer honors.

Janice Heffernan shot the lowest round of the day with a 75, which marks the fifth-lowest score in a conference competition in program history. She had a 12-stroke improvement from yesterday's round to finish the two-day event with a score of 162 to finish tied for fifth place overall.

Paige Pollak also improved upon her score from Friday's round by three strokes for an 80 to finish the weekend with a 163 for seventh place individually. Ali Mahoney turned in an 86 to end the weekend with a 166 to take ninth place.

Sammie Averill also shot an 86 on Saturday to wrap up the 327 by the Belles. A five-stroke improvement from Friday, Averill had a two-day total of 177 for a share of 24th place. Alexi Bown was the Belles' fifth scoring-eligible golfer and carded a 90 to finish the event with a 178 for 26th place.

Katie Zielinski was the top-finishing individual player at the two-day conference event after shooting another round of 87 for a two-day score of 174 to finish tied for 18th.

At the conclusion of the event, the all-conference special awards and all-conference teams were announced. Senior Alexi Bown became the second Saint Mary's golfer to be recognized with the Sportsmanship Award. The award is voted on by all nine MIAA member head coaches.

Classmate Paige Pollak and junior Janice Heffernan both earned All-MIAA First Team honors while freshman Ali Mahoney earned a spot on the All-MIAA Second Team. Golfers earn All-MIAA honors based on their overall stroke averages for the season. Since 1999, 28 different Saint Mary's golfers have earned either All-MIAA First or Second Team accolades a total of 44 times.

Most Valuable Golfer
Adrienne Plourde, Olivet
(senior from Livonia/Redford Thurston HS)

Sportsmanship Award
Alexi Bown, Saint Mary’s
(senior from Belvidere, Ill./Boylan Catholic HS)

All-MIAA First Team
***Adrienne Plourde, Olivet (senior from Livonia/Redford Thurston HS)
**Carlia Canto, Calvin (senior from Marysville/Port Huron Northern HS)
***Theresa Damico, Olivet (senior from White Lake/Lakeland HS)
*Amy Worthington, Trine (sophomore from Logansport, Ind./Logansport HS)
*Paige Pollak, Saint Mary’s (senior from Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS)
*Janice Heffernan, Saint Mary’s (junior from Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central HS)

All-MIAA Second Team
Casey Lamp, Olivet (sophomore from Kalamazoo/Hackett Catholic Central HS)
Brooke Kastamo, Olivet (sophomore from Howell/Hartland HS)
Montana Leep, Hope (junior from Hastings/Grand Rapids South Christian HS)
Ali Mahoney, Saint Mary’s (freshman from Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy)
Casey Harkema, Calvin (sophomore from Holt/Holt HS)
Celine McClimans, Albion (sophomore from Davison/Naples, Fla. HS)
Jennie Poole, Calvin (sophomore from Summit, N.J./Kent Place School)
Julia DeBelly, Trine (freshman from Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania Northview HS)

* - Denotes number of years First Team All-MIAA