Region XI Championship Returns to Otter Creek
The Region XI Women's Golf Championships will be held this weekend at Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny this Saturday and Sunday.
Six schools will be competing in the two-day event, including multiple ranked teams. Iowa Western will be the favorites as they come in ranked at No. 8 in the nation and the winners of at least the last 10 Region XI Tournaments.
Not far behind them, DMACC is sitting at No. 17, and NIACC ranks No. 21.
Iowa Western has yet to finish outside the top-four at a tournament this year, even going back to the fall season. They are led by Seira Kubo and Luisa Gibson. The freshmen have been amazing all year, as neither golfer has finished outside of the top-5 in a tournament this season. The Reiver teammates are ranked 28 and 29 nationally and are expected to finish at or near the top of the regional standings when all is said and done.
DMACC is hot on Iowa Western's heels and are looking to end the Reivers' streak of regional championships. The Bears are coming off two consecutive tournament wins at the NIACC and Hawkeye Invitationals. Led by sophomores Lydia Steier and Krista Swenson, DMACC will lean on experience on a course they last played in the fall.
Finishing in second in an earlier tournament to DMACC, NIACC was only nine strokes off the pace the host Bears set. Led by a to-70 golfer in the nation, Thea Lunning has set the pace for the Trojans nearly every tournament this year.
Iowa Lakes will bring four top-100 golfers to Ankeny with Kelly Winter leading the way for a squad with plenty of talent and motivation to perform well.
Iowa Central only has one golfer on the team so Kelly Boleyn won't be competing for a team title, instead she will be looking to potentially capture an individual championship. To round out the field, Southeastern will be competing this weekend as well. Even though the Blackhawks haven't completed as full of a schedule as the other teams, don't count them out to make some noise.
Qualifying for Nationals will be the five members on the winning team plus the next 10 best finishers.