The women’s golf team had their best finish this season since 2019, with a second-place finish at the Southern States Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship in Greenville, Alabama.

Head coach Cory Amory said despite the disappointment of second place, the team played a great tournament, which will give them confidence moving forward.

“We were beaten by a team that broke multiple scoring records in the tournament, and we can’t control anything outside of our own habits, attitudes, and decisions. The players did everything possible during and leading up to the event to play their best golf,” Amory said. 

The Wolf Pack was led by mass communication senior Emma Smithers, who finished the tournament in third place on the individual leaderboard with a score of five over par. The top five finish was the eighth of Smithers’ career and places her fourth all-time in program history in that category.

“This is the hardest I think I’ve ever worked during a season, so it was nice to see the hard work finally starting to pay off,” Smithers said. “This spring has been really frustrating for me, so it was really fun to hit the ball where I wanted to, and finishing where I did gave me some added confidence knowing that I can compete with other really talented players, and there is no reason I can’t compete with everyone at nationals.”

The conference tournament represented a strong close to the regular season for the Wolf Pack, who also gained recognition at the conference level, with Smithers, Laney Cristan, Blair McKenzie, and Catherine Singletary all being named to the SSAC All-Conference Second Team and junior biology and pre-dental major Kaitlyn Montoya being named SSAC Newcomer of the Year.

“I am extremely honored to be named the SSAC Newcomer of the Year,” Montoya said. “This was one of my goals for the season, and to be able to check it off my goals list felt very reassuring.” 

The team will now be turning their focus toward the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championship, which will take place May 23 through May 26 in Silvis, Illinois.

“I believe that this team can finish really well at nationals and into next year,” Smithers said. “I think our confidence is just going to continue to grow.”