Another successful season for Vikings

The Viking women’s golf team is off the greens until fall, but they have quite a season to look back on. Beyond another Big Sky Championship, the team broke nearly every record in the PSU record books, and had three players make All-Big Sky teams. The Viks say goodbye to their two seniors, but will return five players—three of whom earned All-Big Sky selections.

In the battle for the conference title, the Viks broke the Big Sky Championship record by six shots as they took Northern Arizona by 11 strokes. This was the sixth time in just nine seasons that PSU has claimed the title, and also the second consecutive championship for the team.

Head coach Kathleen Takaishi said that beyond the physical ability of the players to perform, their dedication helped them complete the successful season.

“They’re a hard working team; they set really high goals for themselves and they wanted to achieve them,” Takaishi complimented.

Like much of the season, sophomore Britney Yada led the way during the championship tournament. Yada was named to All-Big Sky First Team alongside junior Tiffany Schoning and freshman Lauren Taylor. Taylor was also named Freshman of the Year. Senior Kalyn Dodge rounded off the All-Big Sky selections as she earned a spot on the second-team all-conference.

At the Big Sky Championship, Yada shot a triple bogey to start off the day, but rebounded to end the day with a tournament-record 67. She also completed the tournament with the Big Sky Championship individual title.

However, during the team’s NCAA West appearance, rather than Yada leading the way, it was senior Dodge who was the top finisher for the Viks with a tie for 56th place. The team was seeded 20 out of 24 going into the competition and likewise ended the tournament that way.

Head coach Kathleen Takaishi said that the team only travels five players to meets, but that the depth of the team enabled them to perform as well as they did.

“They all did a really good job of contributing this year, even the players that didn’t compete at Big Sky Championships and Regionals,” said Takaishi, “We’re a team and everyone was a part of that.”

The Viks performance did not end on the course. On top of their athletic accomplishments, the Viks were honored earlier in the month for their 2009–10 academic performance. The players scored a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate—the fourth-consecutive perfect score for the team. The 2010–11 APR results are not available until the completion of spring term, however Yada and Schoning were already named to Academic All-Big Sky for 2010–11.

While the team is on the rise both academically and on the course, they still have to say goodbye to its pair of seniors. Brown was named Big Sky Conference Golfer of the week in February and steadily improved during her senior season—she bettered her score by more than one stroke each round compared to her junior year. Dodge played in all 12 tournaments her senior year and leaves with two PSU records under her name.

Before the team goes back into action in September, Takaishi explained that the players would all sit down and make a list of achievements they want to work towards over the year.

“I think moving up in the rankings will be a goal and winning another Big Sky Championship.” Takaishi said.  ?