Albany, N.Y. – Junior
Bianca Cruz-Hernandez (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary) placed 11th to lead the Le Moyne College women's golf team to a fourth-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Sunday and Monday at the par-71, 5965-yard Capital Hills at Albany.
During the post-Championship awards ceremony, sophomore
Micayla Moldenke (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) was named the recipient of the inaugural Elite 24 Award, which is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing at the final site for each of the NE10's 24 Championships.
The Dolphins finished in fourth place with a two-day total of 681. The Dolphins carded a 345 in the first round to place fourth by six shots. They followed up with a 336 on Monday to triple their final margin over the fifth-place team. Merrimack College, which won the first three Championships and placed second last year, regained the top spot in the conference with a 36-hole score of 627. The Warriors, who had four of the top eight finishers, tallied a 317 in the first round to take a three-shot lead. Merrimack posted a 310 on Monday to increase its lead to 10. Franklin Pierce University, which won last year's title after placing second in each of the first three NE10 Championships, posted a 637 to place second for the fourth time. The Ravens, who had four participants finish in the top-13, recorded a 320 in the first round and then dropped their score to 317 on Monday. Merrimack's Krystal Knight won her second consecutive individual NE10 championship with a one-over par score of 143. Knight, the second-place finisher as a freshman and third-place finisher in 2016, registered a 73 in the first round to take a three-shot lead and then increased her spot at the top of the leaderboard with a one-under par 71.
Cruz-Hernandez registered a 165 over the two rounds to finish in 11th place. She carded an 84 in the first round to land in a three-way tie for 15th place. She topped that score by three shots with an 81 on Monday to climb four spots in the standings.
Junior
Lauren Kase (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart) finished one shot and one spot back with a 166. She tied for 13th after the first round with an 83. She closed out the championship with another 83 to move up a spot in the standings.
Moldenke finished in a four-way tie for 15th with a 169, the second-best score of her career. She turned in an 85 in the first round to land in a four-way tie for 18th place. She then carded an 84 on Monday to jump three spots.
Freshman
Meghan McKeen (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) tied for 30th place with a 181 in her first NE10 Championship. After recording a 93 in the first round, she tallied an 88 on the second day.
Junior
Tessa Zmudosky (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) tied for 38th place with a 202 off rounds of 105 and 97
The Dolphins, who tallied one point for a 3-2 lead in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" with The College of Saint Rose after the Golden Knights placed seventh at the Championship, close out the Fall season at the Jekyll-o-Lantern Intercollegiate hosted by Lincoln Memorial University on Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30 at Jekyll Island Golf Club in Jekyll Island, Georgia.
