North Central, Minnesota-Morris win UMAC men's and women's golf titles
Click here for men's results
Click here for women's results
Click here for tournament website
Photos: Day 1 | Day 2
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. -- The North Central University men and University of Minnesota, Morris women battled through rain, wind and cold weather all weekend to emerge victorious at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championship golf tournament.
Both teams held at least a share of the lead after competition on Day 1 and never looked back. North Central, who entered Saturday's final round tied for the lead with Bethany Lutheran College after a 331 on Friday, bested the VIkings' team score by four strokes on Day 2 to shoot a 331-312-643. Even though the Rams didn't have any players in the tournament's top five places, North Central occupied spots Nos. 7, 8, 10 and 11 on the final scoresheet. The Morris women's team was the opposite, as three Cougars made a name for themselves in the Top 5.
Northwestern College boasted both genders' medalists, as Nick Olson carded a two-day score of 79-76-155 on the men's side while Kristina Siemen's wrapped up her weekend with a 90-92-182. Both medalists had opponents who finished within just a stroke of their winning score.
Going back to the team competition, Bethany Lutheran's men's squad finished with a 331-316-647 to take second, while Northwestern left Alexandria with a 337-320-657 third place. On the women's side, Northwestern came in the clubhouse 28 strokes behind Morris with a 419-411-830. Presentation College's 458-451-909 was good for third place.
The UMAC has several conference championships left to go in 2009 with the men's and women's golf finale being just the first of a busy fall. The UMAC Cross Country meet will be hosted by Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. on Saturday, Oct. 30 before the conference presents its men's and women's soccer and volleyball conference tournaments the following week.
Stay tuned for the release of the men's and women's golf all-conference awards, which will be announced on umacathletics.com on Monday, Oct. 5.