CORINTH - The Northwest Mississippi Community College women's golf claimed the first tournament championship in school history at the NEMCC Women's Spring Invitational at Shiloh Ridge Golf and Fitness in Corinth.
"The girls have worked really hard, not only this year, but the sophomore girls started this process last year," Head Coach Adam Payne said.
NWCC shot 117-over as a team, a score that was the team's best score of the season and was good for first by a large 43 stroke margin.
Every single Ranger placed within the top 15 with two Rangers placing within the top three.
The highest placing Northwest team member was freshman AnaLeigh Little, who finished in second place. In the first round, Little shot seven-over and only went over par on five holes with three bogies and two double bogies. Little also shot on-par the entire back half of the first round. In the second round, Little shot four-over and only went over par four times, never hitting a double-bogey.
"She's kind of doing the same thing she's done all year," Coach Payne said. "Just kept putting one foot in front of the other. She's a great team leader because she gets excited for everybody, regardless of how she plays."
In third place, right behind Little, freshman Bella McNeil shot 10-over in the first round. The key to McNeil's success was her two birdies on holes five and eight. In the second round, McNeil hit eight-over with two birdies for the second day in a row. The birdies on day two came from holes two and eight. McNeil garnered a birdie on hole eight on both days of competition.
Freshman Sarah Niblett was extremely consistent over the course of the two days of competition. Shooting 21-over on day one and 24-over on day two, Niblett placed ninth with a total score of 45-over.
Rounding out the four NWCC team members that placed in the top 10 was sophomore Maddie Baker. Baker shot 19-over during the first round of competition, a score that was good enough for third-best on the team and 10th-best overall. Although Baker struggled in the second round of competition, shooting 30-over, she only dropped one place in the overall standings to 10th.
Zaeja Davis was another Ranger that was extremely consistent across both days of the tournament. During round one, Davis shot 26-over, and on day two, Davis shot 24-over with a birdie on the last hole. This put her in 11th place with a total score of 50-over.
One team member, sophomore Addison Forbes, came to the NEMCC Women's Spring Invitational to compete as an individual. Forbes shot 33-over in round one with a birdie on hole 11. In round two, shot 30-over and once again birdied on hole 11. Forbes finished the tournament shooting 63-over, a score good for 13th place.
Going into the second day of competition, NWCC was sitting 12 strokes above the second place team. This tournament was the first time Northwest went into the second day with an already established lead.
"My message then was the only thing you can control is yourself, especially in golf," Head Coach Payne said. "I could tell Wednesday morning we were a little bit different than we typically are in the mornings. We were a little bit quieter at breakfast, so I played some music in the van on the way there just to try to lighten the mood and try to get them to relax a little bit."
The women will travel to Oxford, Ala. to take part in the NJCAA DII South District Championship on April 22nd and April 23rd. The championship will be played at Cider Ridge Golf Club and is Northwest's first taste of postseason action.
"Let's not think about what's ahead of us or what has happened behind us. Just stay in the moment," Coach Payne said.
To stay up to date on the NWCC women's golf team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com.
