The Wheaton Women’s Golf team is making improvements across the board as the season gets going with the help of their new coach.
“We are starting to get better scores and become more consistent,” Head Coach Allison Paluchniak said.
I think our biggest reason for success would be thanks to our new golf coach Allie Paluchniak,” Coach Allie provides us with the encouragement that we need to do well in these tournaments.
On Sept. 12, the Wheaton women competed in the Elmhurst College Bluejay Fall Invitational. According to the team’s website, the Thunder finished just six strokes behind the first place team, Lake Forest College.
“We had some good performances at the Elmhurst event,” Paluchniak said. “Those are the kind of scores we should be seeing.”
Freshman Marin Halvorsen was Wheaton’s top finisher who tied for individual medalist with a five-over-par round of 77. Senior Kylie Monson finished third. Senior Rachel Goranson and junior Karissa Raschke tied for 13th. Finally, freshman Ellie Laymon shot 98, and freshman Maddie English shot 100.
The Thunder will compete in a meet against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday, Sept. 22 at Blackhawk Country Club in Madison, Wisc.
“The UWW event will be our toughest field we’ve seen yet, and largest,” Paluchniak said. “We are fully capable of placing well and having some golfers compete for the top spots.”
“It’s going to be a big tournament with over one hundred golfers and there should be some good competition there,” Raschke said. “Our main goal is to focus on playing smart on the course. None of us have played this course before so it’ll be a new experience for all of us.”