Saints' Johnson headlines UMAC women's golf awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Hannah Johnson repeated as the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women's Golf Championship medalist Saturday to lead the College of St. Scholastica to a fourth-consecutive team victory. She headlines the postseason awards earning the Player of the Year nod from the coaches to top off four all-conference finishes for the Saints, the UMAC announced Monday.
The Saints' honors didn't stop with Johnson as rookie tournament runner-up Olivia Wright was voted the Rookie of the Year. A strong finish to the season earned Bethany Lutheran College head coach Matt Fletcher the UMAC Women's Golf Coach of the Year award. The top eight finishers plus two individuals selected by coaches' vote were named All-UMAC First Team, while five individuals were tabbed Honorable Mention via coaches' vote.
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Championship Site |
Championship Results |
Johnson headed into the tournament as the favorite to repeat as champion after leading the conference in scoring average all season (82.3 strokes per round prior to the tournament). After shooting 89 (+17) and sitting third following the first round, Johnson rebounded Friday with a tournament-low round of 81 (+9) to tie Wright for the lead heading into Saturday. In cold and wet conditions, Johnson carded 87 (+15) to end with a three-stroke margin of victory with a score of 257 (+41). Johnson is the first back-to-back UMAC women's golf medalist since 2010.
This season, Johnson paced the Saints with three tournament wins and six top-five finishes in the seven tournaments she competed in prior to the UMAC Championship. Her low round of 73 (+2) came on opening weekend of the season at the Twin Ports Collegiate. She kicked off the season earning back-to-back Player of the Week honors, and she also won the UMAC Preview event at Pebble Creek on Sept. 5.
Rookie Wright challenged Johnson on the opening two day of the tournament as she started with a solid round of 83 (+11) Thursday. She remained fairly consistent Friday carding 87 (+15) to enter the final round even with Johnson who eventually pulled away for the win. Wright earned runner-up honors which adds to her solid season in which she was second in scoring average prior to the tournament (88.0 strokes per round). Her round of 83 (+11) matched her low round for the season in which she had seven top-10 finishes in eight tournaments played.
Behind Fletcher's leadership, Bethany Lutheran was significantly improved from a season ago dropping 18 strokes from the team's scoring average to finish the fall at 401.6 strokes per round. At the UMAC Championship, the Vikings improved from fifth to a tie for fourth place. They also entered the final round sitting third after improving by 21 strokes from Thursday to Friday. Two Vikings also placed in the top 16 Saturday.
In addition to the top awards, a decorated list of All-UMAC honorees included Elise Tangquist (University of Northwestern) and Alayna Tulip (University of Wisconsin-Superior) who were the only two players named All-UMAC First Team for the third-consecutive year. Johnson headlined a list of five players who have at least two First Team nods including Hannah Cornwell (St. Schoalstica), Alison Lindemann (Martin Luther College), Mikayla Santjer (Northland College) and Payton Sierra (University of Minnesota Morris).
The remainder of the All-UMAC First Team included first-time honorees Hannah Garcia (St. Scholastica), Hayley Thompson (Bethany Lutheran) and Wright (St. Shcolastica). The Honorable Mention selections included Maddie Friedman (Wisconsin-Superior), Bethany Habbena (Crown College), Mattie Krause (Northwestern), Greta Nyhus (Northwestern) and Kaya Quinn (Minnesota Morris).
Bethany Lutheran won the team sportsmanship award which is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
2019 Medalist* - Hannah Johnson, St. Scholastica
Player of the Year^ - Hannah Johnson, St. Scholastica
Rookie of the Year# - Olivia Wright, St. Scholastica
Coach of the Year - Matt Fletcher, Bethany Lutheran
2019 UMAC Women's Golf All-Conference First Team
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| Hannah Cornwell |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
Duluth, Minn./Duluth East |
| Hannah Johnson*^ |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors |
| Hannah Garcia |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
Becker, Minn./Becker |
| Alison Lindemann |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
Lewiston, Minn./Luther Prep |
| Mikayla Santjer |
Northland |
Jr. |
Aberdeen, S.D. |
| Payton Sierra |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Porcupine, S.D./Red Cloud |
| Elise Tangquist |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Crookston, Minn./Crookston |
| Hayley Thompson |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy. |
Victoria, Minn./Chanhassen |
| Alayna Tulip |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Jr. |
Arcadia, Wis./Arcadia |
| Olivia Wright# |
St. Scholastica |
Fy. |
International Falls, Minn./Falls |
2019 UMAC Women's Golf All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Name |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| Maddie Friedman |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Fy., Lake St. Louis, Mo./Spooner |
| Bethany Habbena |
Crown |
Fy. |
Newport, Minn./Homeschool |
| Mattie Krause |
Northwestern |
Fy. |
Clear Lake, Iowa/Clear Lake |
| Greta Nyhus |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Henning, Minn./Ottertail Central |
| Kaya Quinn |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Ramsey, Minn./Mounds View |
2019 UMAC Women's Golf Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award - Bethany Lutheran
Bethany Lutheran - Miranda Bresnahan, So., St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter
Crown - Bethany Habbena, Fy., Newport, Minn./Homeschool
Martin Luther - Cassandra Rose, Fy., West Bend, Wis./Kettle Morraine Lutheran
Minnesota Morris - Tori Grates, Fy., Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield
North Central - Ashley Abbott, Jr., Eagan, Minn./Eagan
Northland - Miranda Boyd, Jr., Middleton, Wis.
Northwestern - Mattie Krause, Fy., Clear Lake, Iowa/Clear Lake
St. Scholastica - Hannah Johnson, Jr., Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors
Wisconsin-Superior - Shalese Snowdon, Sr., Warroad, Minn./Warroad