Women’s golf ready for NSIC Preview

The Minnesota State Women’s Golf team is set to take the course Monday and Tuesday for the NSIC Preview. The Mavericks have a quick turnaround as they head back to Missouri after competing in the Holiday Inn Express Missouri West Invite March 27-28. 

The event will be held in Smithville at the Paradise Pointe Golf Complex. The course is a par-72 track that plays to 5,522 yards. It features four par-5 and four par-3 holes. 

One of the teams that Minnesota State will be battling against, is the winners of the Holiday Inn Express Missouri West Invite, Missouri Western State. The Griffons finished with a team score of 604. Concordia St. Paul, Upper Iowa, Sioux Falls and Winona State round out the rest of the competitors.  

The Mavs weren’t able to execute the way they hoped in their latest appearance on the green. The nine-team event hosted by Missouri Western, saw the Mavs finish in eighth with a team score of 663. This was quite the dip from their 630 point total and fifth place finish in the SMSU Spring Invitational at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Arizona March 7-8. 

In the days leading up to the Holiday Inn Express Missouri West Invite, head coach Alex Schmitz highlighted the team’s freshman as something he was excited to see go out and perform well. 

Despite the team’s overall less than stellar outing, freshman Sammy Youngquist continued her impressive year. She paced the Mavs with a score of 164. Youngquist has played in 14 rounds this year, averaging 79.6, which places her as the second-lowest average on the team. The freshman has shot under 80 on seven of those 14 rounds, with three rounds going 75 or lower. Youngquist’s most astounding round in her MSU career took place in the Concordia Golden Bear Classic back in September 2022, where she shot a 72. That round earned her the second lowest career round of any active Maverick. Freshman Lauren Rebrovich also made her mark on the squad during the Golden Bear Classic where she shot a career best 68 in the final round. Rebrovich is averaging 82.1 for the season.

Schmitz also anticipated the team’s leadership, seniors and upperclassmen to pick up where they left off in the fall as they headed into their first competitive event of the spring. The Mavs will need their leaders to step-up if they want to finish the season on a high note. Senior Sam Soulier has played in 45 rounds as a Maverick, which makes her the second highest total on the team. Soulier is averaging an 81.7 for the season. She also shot her career-best at the Golden Bear Classic with a 75. 

Junior Anna Cihak is another key cog in the machine. Cihak is vastly experienced having played in 44 rounds for the Mavs, making her the third-highest total on the team. She has played in 12 rounds this season, with an average of 77.7. Cihak recorded her career-best at the Golden Bear Classic by shooting a 70 on the second day of the event. Adding her to the list of Mavericks to have a career day in the fall. 

The Mavs will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing performance their last time out. This will be their second competitive event in the spring and third overall. With the team able to get their feet wet over the last few weeks, they hope that this trip to Missouri will be a lot kinder to them. 

Write to Mohamed Warsame at Mohamed.Warsame@mnsu.edu

Header Photo: The MSU Women’s Golf team to compete in a two-day NSIC Preview event. (Courtesy MNSU Athletics)