Women's Golf

2024 MIAC Women's Golf Championship Preview

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championships of the 2024-25 academic year are set to tee off this weekend, as MIAC women's golfers will head to the St. Cloud Country Club in St. Cloud, Minn. for the 2024 MIAC Women's Golf Championships.

The ten women's golf teams from around the conference will begin the three-day, 54-hole conference championship this Saturday, September 28, and crown the MIAC champion on Monday, September 30.
CHAMPIONSHIP 101
Each MIAC team will enter five players in the tournament, with the program's four best performances each day determining the team's score. The team with the lowest score over the course of the tournament will receive the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the 2025 NCAA Division III Golf Championships.

Action will begin Saturday morning, with the first wave of golfers set to tee off at 10:00 a.m. Teams are seeded based on their finish in the 2023 MIAC Championships, and golfers will tee off in descending order of their place in the lineup (No. 5 to No. 1). The 2023 MIAC Champion St. Catherine Wildcats will tee off alongside Carleton and Bethel to start the tournament at 10:00 a.m., with teams following in order of 2023 finish every nine minutes after. Macalester, Saint Benedict, and Gustavus are tentatively set to begin teeing off at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, followed by St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, Augsburg, and Concordia at 11:30 a.m.

Sunday's tee times are also set to begin at 10:00 a.m., while Monday's final round is slated for a 10:00 a.m. split tee start. Specific pairings for Sunday and Monday will be reordered from high to low according to the previous day's scores. Tentative tee times and pairings for the tournament will be available online on the championship home page.

| 2024-25 Women's Golf Statistics | Women's Golf Record Book |
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Spectators are welcome to attend the 2024 MIAC Golf Championships at the St. Cloud Country Club and must follow all local and spectator rules. Fans not in attendance in St. Cloud can follow all the action via unofficial live scoring through Scoreboard powered by Clippd.

The MIAC has a championship home page for the event that will serve as the online home of the tournament. The championship page will include tee times, pairings, and results as they become available, as well as recaps and photos.

| Championship Home Page | Live Scoring |
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNERS
Twelve former MIAC Women's Golf All-Championship Team honorees will be back on the course this weekend including Bethel's Laura Beltman (T9th 2023), Sophie Brantner (T9th 2023), and Greta McArthur (3rd 2022, T3rd 2021, 7th 2023); Carleton's Cynthia Lu (T5 2022), Carter Sichol (2nd 2022, 1st 2023), Mindy Zhai (T9th 2023), and Sarah Zheng (8th 2022, 6th 2023); Macalester's Bailey Lengfelder (T3 2022, T4 2023); and St. Catherine's Morgan Anderson (9th 2022), Paige Hillman (3rd 2023), Grace Petzold (T4th 2023), and Kyra Venne (1st 2022, T9th 2021, 2nd 2023).
IN THE POLLS
Two MIAC women's golf teams were ranked in the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Preseason Top 25 Poll, released on September 6. St. Catherine came in at No. 9, while Carleton was No. 16.
AROUND THE MIAC
Augsburg senior Avery Sawchuk (Burnsville, Minn.) claimed individual medalist honors for the first time in her collegiate career, shooting a 158 total (75-83), the 4th-best 36-hole finish in program history, to earn the win at the UW-Superior Twin Ports Collegiate meet on 9/8-9. Augsburg won the eight-team tournament, marking the first multi-team tournament win for the Auggies since 2015. Sawchuk's opening-round 75 tied her career-best round and is tied for the third-best single round in school history.

Bethel senior Jill Erickson (Lindstrom, Minn. | Chisago Lakes) paced the Royals to a second-place finish in the 17-team Wartburg Fall Invite on 9/7-8 by firing a career-best two-over-par 146 for a third-place finish. Shooting a career-low one-over-par 73 in each round, Erickson led the Royals to carding a 36-hole program record of 597.

Carleton junior Carter Sichol (Winnetka, Ill. | New Trier) made her 2024-25 debut at the D3 Classic on 9/21-22. Sichol tied for third with a two-round score of 149 (73-76). Sichol is the defending MIAC medalist, having won the individual title at the 2023 conference tournament.

Concordia sophomore Addicyn Zimmerman (Perham, Minn.) led the Cobbers with a two-round score of 169 at the St. Catherine Fall Invite on 9/14-15. Zimmerman carded a career-best 80 in the opening round.

Gustavus sophomore Riley Zebroski (Watertown, S.D.) tied for tenth at the Rhodes College Joe and Lee Duncan Invitational on 9/16-17. Zebroski totaled a 77 in round one, followed by a 73 in the second round for a two-round total of 150, a career-best for the sophomore. Round two saw four birdies from Zebroski to help her climb ten spots on the leaderboard.

Macalester first-year Ava Austria (Portland, Ore. | Catlin Gabel) tied for third at the D3 Central Region Fall Preview at Legacy Golf on 9/7-8. Austria shot the tournament's low round of 70 to tie the program record for 18 holes. Her two-round score of 147 also tied Macalester's program record for 36 holes. The performance helped the Scots set new program marks for 18 holes (303) and 36 holes (610).

Saint Benedict junior Jamie Bimberg (Chanhassen, Minn.) delivered a career-best two-round total of 152 at the season-opening CSB Invite, shooting a 78 on the first day and a 74 on the second to finish in fourth place overall. Her second-round score of 74 was a career-best and the ninth-best single round in program history. Bimberg's total of 152 is tied for the sixth-best two-round score in CSB history.

St. Catherine senior Paige Hillman carded a program-low round of 67 (-5) on the second day of the season-opening CSB Fall Invite to claim the individual title with an overall score of 147 (+3). The Wildcats placed first as a team with a two-round tally of 615 (+39). Hillman's second-round score is tied for the 18-hole conference record set by Carleton's Alyssa Akiyama in 2016.

St. Olaf first-year Anneliese Carlson (Albuquerque, N.M. | Albuquerque Academy) was the Oles' top scorer in each of her first two collegiate meets and recorded a career-best 75 in the second round of the D3 Central Region Preview on 9/8.

St. Scholastica senior Carissa Oberding (Cottage Grove, Minn. | Park) made personal and program history by winning the D3 Classic at Emerald Greens Golf Course in Hastings, Minnesota, on 9/21-22. Not only did she become a medalist for the first time in her collegiate career, Oberding also carded the first under-par round in program history with a second-round 70 (-2). Oberding finished the 36-hole tournament at 146 (76-70, +2), placing first in the 75-competitor field with a one-shot margin of victory.