Belles Win MIAA Championship, Hunter Kehoe Headlines All-MIAA Honorees as Most Valuable Golfer

  • Saint Mary's claimed their second consecutive MIAA Championship after posting a five-round total of 1,553 strokes for a 310.6 stroke average.
  • Hunter Kehoe earned MIAA Most Valuable Golfer honors for posting the lowest scoring average this fall.
  • Five Belles earned First Team All-MIAA honors, marking the first time in MIAA history that a single team has had five First Team honorees.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. - The Saint Mary's golf team secured the 2018 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championship after the final 18-hole round was canceled on Saturday at Bedford Valley Golf Club due to course conditions and weather.

Results from the five rounds played earlier in the fall, including Friday's round at Bedford Valley, have been utilized to establish All-MIAA awards for individuals and MIAA team champion.

Saint Mary's claimed their second consecutive MIAA Championship after posting a five-round total of 1,553 strokes for a 310.6 stroke average. Hope finished in second place with a stroke total of 1,690. Albion (1,733) and Calvin (1,735) round out the top four and will join Hope and Saint Mary's in the four-team NCAA Automatic Qualifying rounds in Spring 2019. It is the eighth overall MIAA Championship for the Saint Mary's golf program.

Hunter Kehoe became the ninth golfer in program history to earn MIAA Most Valuable Golfer honors by virtue of posting the lowest scoring average in conference play. The sophomore had a 77.2 scoring average with a 386 stroke total in five rounds of play this fall. That scoring average matches the program record for the best MIAA scoring average by a league most valuable golfer.

Kehoe also garnered her second consecutive First Team All-MIAA honor by having the top score for the fall season. Teammates Summer Stillson (78.2 average), Taylor Kehoe (78.4), Sydney Hruskoci (79.6), and Lauren Read (80.6) were all First Team All-MIAA honorees as the Belles took five of the six available spots on the first team. It is the first time in conference women's golf history that a single team has had five honorees earn the First Team distinction.

For Hunter Kehoe and Summer Stillson, it is their second consecutive First Team honor as the pair were both on the First Team last fall. It is the second First Team honor for both Taylor Kehoe and Lauren Read as that duo were on the First Team in 2016. Additionally, it is the third overall All-MIAA honor for both Taylor Kehoe and Read, who were Second Team honorees a year ago.

Alma's Tori Basso (79.8) joined the Saint Mary's quintuplets as a First Team All-MIAA honoree for the 2018 season.

The Belles will host two of the three MIAA NCAA Automatic Qualifier rounds in the spring season.

2018 Team Champion: Saint Mary's

All-MIAA First Team
Tori Basso, Alma
Sydney Hruskoci, Saint Mary's
Hunter Kehoe, Saint Mary's
Taylor Kehoe, Saint Mary's
Lauren Read, Saint Mary's
Summer Stillson, Saint Mary's

All-MIAA Second Team
Nicole Deweyert, Olivet
Madison Kroetsch, Albion
Abby Meder, Hope
Megan Moco, Albion
Jordyn Rioux, Hope
Darby Scott, Kalamazoo

Most Valuable Golfer
Hunter Kehoe, Saint Mary's

Sportsmanship Award
Nicole VanderYacht, Calvin

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