College Corner: Women’s Teams Across the State
Michigan State:
Coming off one of the most successful postseasons under Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, Michigan State’s women’s golf team is poised to stake its claim as one of the best programs in the Big Ten Conference and nationally once again.
Michigan State closed out the year ranked No. 34 in the country by Golfweek, then won the NCAA Palm Beach Regional (the programs first) and finished just four shots shy of making the cut at the NCAA Championships (18th place), with junior Katie Lu becoming the first MSU golfer to individually reach the final round of stroke play (T30th place with at 1-over par 217).
Senior Valentina Rossi, who has played in a pair of NCAA Championships during her first three years on campus and went to the semifinals of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur, was second on the team in scoring last year with a 72.70 average. Rossi, who ranks 8th all-time at MSU by scoring average, tied for 9th place at the NCAA Palm Beach Regional and is coming off a summer that saw her play in the LPGA Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Women’s Open in Scotland.
Junior Brooke Biermann finished third on the team in scoring average last year (72.89) and led the team with five top-20 finishes. More prominently she tied for first at the NCAA Palm Beach Regional, with a 3-under par 213.
Sr. Leila Raines was fourth on the team in scoring with a 73.85 average in nine tournaments and 27 rounds. Raines, who played in the 2022 NCAA Championships as an individual, posted two top-20 finishes in the spring, including her first career win at the Moon Golf Invitational when she tied an MSU program record with a 203 over 54 holes.
Junior Shannon Kennedy, who posted a 75.41 average, became a key part of the rotation at the mid-point of the season last year. She is coming off a successful summer, which included a finish as the medalist during the stroke play portion of the Michigan Women’s Amateur.
University of Michigan:
After becoming the second straight Wolverine to reach the Final Four at the U.S. Women's Amateur, Hailey Borja (39 career events) returns along with Mikaela Schulz (32 events) by virtue of the NCAA's COVID-19 year, headlining U-M's returning starters. As Monet Chun (the 2021 U.S. Woman’s Amateur runner up) enters her final season and UCLA graduate transfer Emilie Paltrinieri joins the program, veterans will serve as the backbone of the team as the Maize and Blue look to make a third straight trip to the NCAA postseason and fifth overall in the last eight years.
After her strong summer winning the 2023 Pacific Northwest Amateur and earning a runner-up finish at the 2023 California Women's Amateur, Lauren Sung will look to capitalize on her momentum heading into her sophomore season. Lauren's twin sister, Sydney, and redshirt freshman Mara Janess continued to grow their games this summer and will help bolster coach Jan Dowling's young core.
With two incoming freshmen, Dowling adds to her youth with the additions of Sidney Yermish, who highlighted her summer with a quarterfinal appearance at the 2023 U.S. Junior Girls, while Grace Wang (Rochester Adams) posted four top 20 finishes this summer, including winning the Golfweek Championship at Kentucky.
Continuing to challenge her team, Dowling has set up another competitive nine-event schedule. After opening the fall with a pair of local events -- at Michigan State's Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 17-18) and Toledo's Glass City Invitational (Sept. 25-26) -- the Wolverines will travel across the country for their final two events.
Following the three-month training break, the Wolverines open their spring heading to the Bahamas for the Texas Tech's Nexus Invitational (Feb. 12-14). After beginning March at Florida's Vystar Gators Invitational (March 2-3), U-M has back-to-back events in Georgia.
“The start of a new season is always incredibly exciting,” Dowling said. “We have quite a mix of experience on our team, starting with our two fifth-year seniors, Hailey (Borja) and Mikaela (Schulz). They know Michigan Golf, and they are incredibly invested in leaving this program better than they found it. They've achieved more than any other team in women's golf history already, so they want to pass the torch, but lead one last time.”
Eastern Michigan:
The Eastern Michigan University women's golf team is stepping into an exciting new era, fueled by a combination of determination, talent, and state-of-the-art resources. The construction of the GameAbove Golf Performance Center marks a turning point, providing the team with the tools to achieve unprecedented success.
The 2023-24 season welcomes a fresh wave of talent with two impressive freshmen, Gabriella Tapp (South Lyon) and Riley Kim. Riley, hailing from Aldie, Va., brings a competitive spirit and a track record of achievement, while Gabriella, a high school state champion, adds a strong team mentality and a history of triumphs to the lineup.
Returning players Sophia Wygonik and Paige Zolciak, who have spent the summer competing, are eager to make their mark. Junior Alyssa DiMarcantonio aims to build on her solid performance at the MAC Championship, showcasing her potential for tournament victories. Anna Watson and Natai Apichonlati are set for stellar final seasons. With an eye on first-team All-MAC honors, Watson's journey is marked by progress, while Apichonlati's veteran status and golf acumen position her as a strong contender for All-MAC recognition.
An exciting highlight awaits as EMU proudly hosts the Shirley Spork EMU Invitational on Oct.3-4 at Eagle Crest Golf Club.
Central Michigan:
It's Year 2, of sorts, for the CMU women who are also coming off an outstanding 2022-23 season capped by a third-place finish – far and away the best in the 10-year history of the program – in the MAC Championship in April.
Second-year coach Ryan Williams led a veteran squad to a pair of wins among six top-three finishes in 11 tournaments a year ago, further solidifying CMU as one of the league’s up-and-coming programs.
Williams is looking to replace five players, nearly all of them contributors or program mainstays, who have graduated or transferred, including Casilda Allendesalazar, the top player in program history.
Still, the Chippewas return solid veterans in Rachel Kauflin and Ashley Goh, the latter a senior from Malaysia who last spring placed fourth in the MAC Championship – the best finish ever by a Chippewa – and posted five top-10 finishes in 2022-23.
Western Michigan:
By Head Coach Kim Moore
I am really looking forward to the 2023/2024 season. We graduated one player from last year, returning 7 of our 8 players, with the addition of 2 new faces. Alissa Fish returns for one more year. She led our team in scoring last season with a 76 average. We are also returning Natalie Samdal, Megha Vallabhaneni, and Jenna Hayes who all were in the top 5 in scoring last season. We are bringing in a two-time Indiana State Individual Champion, Macy Beeson, and a very promising walk-on in freshman Bella Brooks from Lexington, KY.
We look to build on some great accomplishments from last season, when we broke a couple school records with the lowest 54-hole team score in school history of 883 at the Bowling Green Falcon Florida Classic and the most birdies in a single season with 297 total in 12 tournaments. Academically, we had some great success last season with a 3.83 Team GPA in the Fall, which was the best ever in our program’s history for a semester and the best in the athletic department in the fall. We finished the season with a 3.78 team GPA, which put us in the top 25 in the nation!
Grand Valley State:
The Laker women will return their top five from last season, in which they won three tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the seventh consecutive season.
Head coach Rebecca Mailloux will have a strong group of golfers heading into the season led by honorable mention All-American Paula Badino and All-Region and GLIAC Golfer of the Year Olivia Stoll (Haslett). Also returning are First-Team All-GLIAC golfer Megan Miron and second teamer Julia Sanchez. The Lakers will add two freshmen and transfer Rachel Krieger who earned honorable mention All-GLIAC last year at Saginaw Valley.
The men opened their season playing the Folds of Honor Collegiate at the American Dunes Golf Course in Grand Haven, while the women open the following week on September 11th in the Indianapolis Fall Invitational at Prairie View Golf Course.
Ferris State:
The Ferris State University men's and women's golf teams have high aspirations entering the 2023-24 season under head coach and Bulldog alum Sam Stark. Last year, the Bulldogs won the GLIAC Women's Golf Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament.
A year ago, Stark was voted as the GLIAC Women’s Golf Coach of the Year after leading FSU to its first league championship since 2007. FSU also reached the NCAA Tourney on the women’s side for the second-straight year.
Additionally, FSU had an All-GLIAC First Team honoree in Alayna Eldred (Osakis, Minn.) along with a pair of second team all-conference recipients in Kamryn Shannon (Jackson/Michigan Center) and Dani Staskowski (Clarkston/Notre Dame Preparatory). Finally, Lizzie Anderson (Lockport, Ill.) garnered GLIAC Honorable Mention kudos with all returning this season for the Bulldogs.
Wayne State:
The Wayne State University women's golf program is coming off the most successful season in program history thanks to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships.
The Warriors will be guided by third-year head coach Larry Hamilton. Team-wise, five of the seven members from that team are back, including Beca Vestman. Last season, Vestman became the first women's golfer in school history to earn WGCA All-Region honors and paced the squad in scoring average with a 76.6. Also back is GLIAC defending individual champion, Maisarah Hezri, now just a sophomore.
