Iowa Western Wins Plains District Championship
MILFORD, Kan. - Iowa Western won the first Plains District Championship with a 30-stroke win over second place Dodge City (Kan.) at Rolling Meadows Golf Club on Tuesday.
In the first year of joining with Region VI and IX, Iowa Western captured their 12th straight qualifier in a row dating back to 2010. The Reivers had four golfers finish in the top five, led by last year's regional champion Luisa Gibson, who finished as the 2022 District runner up. At 6-over par Gibson trailed only Thitapha Iamtragul of Dodge City, who finished at +5 over 36 holes.
Gibson rallied to a second round 72 (E), the best of any player.
Katie Graham (+6), Seira Kubo (+15) and Madi Schlaepfer (+16) joined Gibson in the top five. Katie Schweers finished in 21st (out of 49) to round out the team scoring.
Iowa Western and Dodge City earned the qualifying team marks to advance the the national tournament. From there, three other individuals earned their way into the tournament field, including DMACC's Ashley Michel. Michel finished in seventh place and held on after a tough second round to advance. The other two individual qualifiers were Aubree Johnson of Central Wyoming and Pawinee Sukasem of Barton County.
Other ICCAC competitors to finish in the top 20 were Kelly Boelyn of Iowa Central, Iowa Lakes' Isabella Santistevan (T16, +25) and Kelly Winter (T16, +25), and DMACC's Taylor Balsley (18, +28).