The St. Catherine University golf team couldn't have asked for a better showing in its fourth year of existence as a varsity program than it had at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships this weekend. With a team score of 985 (+121), the Wildcats shattered the previous program record at the conference tournament for their highest placing ever at sixth in the team standings. First-year Kaitlyn Alvarez (Eau Claire, Wis./North) was the anchor all weekend for the Wildcats and has therefore been named the Wildcat Athelte of the Week.Â
Alvarez – along with teammate Abby Conzemius (Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka) – made program history when she finished in the top-10 individually to earn All-MIAC and All-Championship honors. This was not only a first for the program, but her eighth-place finish is the highest finish in program history by a Wildcat. Her final score of 238 (+22) helped Alvarez become one of only three first-years in the field of 55 golfers to place in the top-10.Â
On Saturday, Alvarez matched her season and career-best score of 77 (+5) to put the Wildcats in third after one round of play. Her score was not only a Wildcat MIAC record, but it was good enough to put her in a tie for first indivdually with two rounds to play.Â
Alvarez again took the lead on Sunday with a team-best score for the day carding an 80 (+8). The first-year was tied for second heading into the final round. Monday, she battled with a tough field of players to maintain her spot in the top 10 with a solid 81 (+9) – the second-best score of the day for the Wildcats.Â
With her performance, Alvarez lowered her season average to 83.9 strokes per round. Her round of 77 (+5) from Saturday is tied with her score from earlier in the year for the second-lowest in program history. Alvarez also ends the fall campaign with two top-10 tournament finishes.
Alvarez and the remainder of the Wildcats will return to action in March for their annual spring break trip before completing the spring portion of the season.Â
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