Golfers shatter team score record

The Chadron State golf team traveled to Avondale, Arizona, this weekend to compete in the RMAC Championships at Coldwater G.C. and conclude its season.

Day one was a productive one for the Eagles, as the team’s two seniors showed up to play. Emma Harris, senior of Wahoo, swung for a first-round 76, becoming just the fifth golfer in CSC history to earn that score or better in an 18-hole round. Harris led the Eagles, tying for an eighth place individual finish and steering the team to a seventh place mark. Schuyler Wetzel, senior of Hot Springs, South Dakota, also stood out, tying her career low for a round.

The team’s score of 322 in the first round was good enough for a school record, breaking the previous record of 323, set in 2007.

On day two, Wetzel showed up again, going for two straight sub-80 rounds to lead the Eagles (322-327-649) as they went on to shatter last year’s school record of 677. Individually, Wetzel (77-78-155) finished tied for 15th of 64 golfers, coming within two strokes of the individual team record of 153.

The Eagles finished tied for eighth in the team standings, marking this as the first time they have finished in front of four other teams in this tournament since the 2007-2008 season.

Wetzel’s two-round 155 was a personal best, as were the marks of Harris (76-84-160), who placed 29th, and Mikayla Gallagher (90-80-170), sophomore of Lead, South Dakota, who tied for 44th. Gallagher tied for 11th in the field with four birdies.

“The first day was not my best, but I knew I could play the course well, and I went into the second day with the attitude that it was the last meet of the season and I needed to play to the best of my ability,” Gallagher said. “I ended my last two holes with birdies, so I was happy with my performance and more specifically my finish.”

Sam Rahmig, freshman of Gering, came within one stroke of her personal best, shooting a two-round 170 to tie for 44th. Haynes placed 51st with a score of 173.

“After the first day we realized we were on track to beat not one school record, but two,” Gallagher said. “These factors, in addition to playing the same course last year, all had an effect.”