The North Plains District Tournament hosted five teams and 31 individuals. The competitors played two days for a total of 36 holes. This tournament decides the teams and individuals competing in the NJCAA DII Women's National Championship. DMACC set the pace at +102, earning them the victory. Iowa Central was close behind with a total of +110 in second place. Rounding out the national qualifying teams was NIACC at +137. The Lady Lakers finished 4th with a total of +163. Abby Brooks led the Lakers with a 7th-place finish on the individual side. Leah Becker finished T-10. Both Abby and Leah qualified for nationals!
12 teams qualify for the national championship through district tournament results. Once those teams are decided, there is a selection process for another three teams to qualify. The Lady Lakers are hopeful to receive one of the three at-large bids. This news will be announced in the upcoming days.
"I'm very pleased with the growth and development throughout this year. An easy gauge of the growth is comparing our day 1 results at Otter Creek this spring to the day 1 results at Otter Creek this fall. We trailed NIACC by 50 strokes in the fall after 18 holes. we were trailing them by two strokes this spring. I want our ladies to focus on that rather than the specific tournament results. All five competitors and Jillian Muniz played a massive role in this team's growth at various times this year. We are excited that our team is under consideration for the at-large bids. Whatever the committee decides will not take away from the positives and growth we've had. Our goal will be to put in the extra work this summer and next year and qualify for the national championship based on tournament results," said Coach Myers. "I also need to recognize our individual qualifiers! Abby and Leah played great the first day and had to ride the emotional/mental rollercoaster on the second day, knowing they were in contention individually. It's a brutal battle between the ears when you struggle to find a groove and try not to let it slip away. We need to roll into nationals with the underdog mindset without any expectations. If we play free and enjoy the experience, we could bring home some hardware!"
The NJCAA DII Women's National Championship is at Cedar Pointe Golf Course in Boone, IA. The four-day competition is May 13-16.