| MIAC Release | Team Results | Individual Results | 

COON RAPIDS, MINN. – In its six years of existence, the St. Catherine University golf team has already made history, quite a few times. In six years, the Wildcats have won three tournaments as a team, had three individuals earn medalist honors, and set over 15 school records.

As of 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, St. Kate's can now add Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Champion to its resume. The Wildcats held off a surging Carleton College Knights to win the MIAC Women's Golf Title for the first time in program history by two strokes with a school record low three day score of 949.

St. Kate's outstanding weekend started on Saturday, when the team shot a 319 to take a two stroke lead over the University of St. Thomas. Then on Saturday, the Wildcats jumped out to a 10 stroke lead over Carleton, who jumped from fifth to second by shooting the lowest round of the tournament, a 310.

Still, St. Kate's was confident that its ten stroke lead would be enough to hold the Knights at bay. Of course, that plan is much easier said than done. The final day at the MIAC Championships was not without its drama, as the Wildcats watch their lead shrink from 11 strokes to five on the front nine.

With the lead shrinking, Sydney Busker (Detroit Lakes, Minn. / Detroit Lakes) hit an eagle putt on the par-5 ninth to get St. Kate's back on track. Even that, though, didn't seem to help as Carleton continued to close the gap on the back nine, eventually taking the lead with just nine holes left to play.

When they needed to most, the Wildcats five golfers played the best final three holes of their lives. Madi Roe (Apple Valley, Minn. / Eastview) parred the 18^th hole in the final MIAC Championship of her career to keep St. Kate's within two of the surging Knights. Roe finished the tournament in a tie for 25^th with a three-day score of 253.

After shooting +9 on the front nine holes, Taylor Krouse (New Prague, Minn. / New Prague) found her stride on the back nine. The junior was even par through the last nine holes and parred 18 to give the Wildcats a chance to retake the lead from Carleton. Krouse would finish just outside the top-10 in 12^th.

Busker came to the 18^th green with the momentum on her side, as she already shot the best third-round score by a St. Kate's player. However, her tee shot found its way to the rough, and Busker needed two shots to lob her ball onto the green for a chance to make par.

After Carleton's Ziyi Wang missed her putt for par, Busker needed to make par in order for the Wildcats to retake the lead. Her putt lipped off the back and into the hole, giving Busker the par she needed and St. Kate's took a one stroke lead.

Elsewhere on the course, one of the Knights top two golfers hit a double bogey, expanding the Wildcats lead to four strokes. Kaitlyn Alvarez (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) double bogeyed the final hole, putting the pressure on Abby Conzemius (Chanhassen, Minn. / Minnetonka) to clinch the victory.

Off the tee, Conzemius found herself on the right side of the fairway, then left her second shot short of the green. Her third was a perfect chip to the left of the hole, but before she had a chance to putt for par, Alyssa Akiyama had a chance to put the Knights within one of the Wildcats with a putt for birdie. Akiyama missed to the left of the hole, and although Conzemius missed her first putt for the par, she hit the second, sealing St. Kate's MIAC victory.

All five Wildcats finished in the top-25 as individuals, with Conzemius, Busker, and Alvarez earning All-MIAC honors with top-10 finishes. Conzemius finished in a tie for third with a three day score of 233, a school record. Busker finished in seventh with a three-day score of 237 and Alvarez finished tenth with a 240.

With the victory, St. Kate's earned the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Golf Tournament, which will take place May 9-12 at Bay Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas.