St. Paul – Three members of the Gustavus women’s golf team were named to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women’s Golf All-Conference Team earlier this week when the conference released a new-look All-Conference squad that featured a total of 15 players. Juniors Sam Falk (Glenwood, Minn.) and Jordan Drenttel (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), along with first-year Mae Meierhenry (Sioux Falls, S.D.) all received recognition in this year’s postseason awards.
As in past years, the top 10 finishers from the MIAC Championships automatically received a spot on the All-Conference Team, while the coaches were also able to elect up to five additional selections based on their play throughout the full season, a feature that has been added this season. Falk and Meierhenry each finished in the top 10 this fall, while Drenttel was selected by the coaches.
Gustavus’s catalyst throughout the fall and into the spring, Sam Falk finished eighth at the 2013 MIAC Women’s Golf Championships to earn All-Conference honors for the third straight year. Falk finished with a stroke total of 241 (+25) in the three-round tournament, just one stroke behind Carleton’s Grace Gilmore, who finished seventh. She is just the 12th player in Gustavus women’s golf history to earn All-Conference honors three times in her career.
For the season, the junior ranked fifth in the MIAC in stroke average for the third consecutive year, matching her mark from a year ago of 81.2 strokes per 18 holes. She was also named the MIAC Women’s Golf Athlete-of-the-Week during the week of October 1st after tying for second and securing her second straight top-two finish in the Gustavus Fall Invitational.
In her rookie year, Mae Meierhenry improved each week throughout the fall and went into the MIAC Championships on a roll after winning the Gustavus Fall Invitational. Meierhenry kept her momentum going at the conference tournament, finishing in a tie for 10th to earn All-Conference accolades for the first time in her young career. Again, Mae improved throughout the weekend, shooting an 86 in round one, 82 in the second round, and a 76 in the final round for a weekend total of 244 (+28).
For the year, Meierhenry posted a stroke average of 83.8, which ranked 17th in the MIAC. That mark also ranked sixth among league rookies, all of whom were also named to the All-Conference Team.
The final Gustie on the All-Conference Team, Jordan Drenttel, benefited from the new format of the conference awards, as she was selected by the coaches around the league. Although Drenttel finished 16th at the MIAC Championships in the fall, the junior put together a solid spring to earn her place on the squad. Jordan ended the year with three straight top-10 finishes, including tying for second in a field of 45 golfers at the Carleton Invitational and tying for eighth of 70 in the Blugold Spring Invitational.
For the year, Drenttel averaged 82.6 strokes per 18 holes, which ranked second on the team behind Falk and 12th in the league. The junior chopped more than three strokes off her stroke average from last season, which ranked sixth on the team with a total of 85.8 strokes per round.
The Gustavus women’s golf team finished third at the 2014 MIAC Championships, marking the 19th consecutive year the Gusties have finished in the top three. The team totaled a 972 (+108) for the weekend, 23 strokes ahead of fourth place Saint Benedict.
Congrats Jordie!