<rleton College women's golf team reigned supreme over the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 2014-15, and that continued with Monday's announcement of the 2014-15 MIAC Women's Golf awards, with the Knights claiming three of the top four individual honors.
Carleton sophomore Shannon Holden (Simi Valley, Calif. / Royal) was named MIAC Player-of-the-Year, teammate Kelsey Moede (Lake Oswego, Ore.) was named MIAC Senior-of-the-Year and Head Coach Eric Sieger (14th season) received his second-straight MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honor.
The near-sweep of the MIAC individual awards is evidence of Carleton’s incredible 2014-15 campaign, in which the Knights won six of its eight tournaments, including its first-ever MIAC championship with a record-setting performance. The Knights won by 21 shots and set MIAC tournament records for 18-holes (299), 36 holes (610) and 54 holes (935).
Holden’s Player-of-the-Year honor caps a season in which she led the MIAC with a 78.3 scoring average, marking the second straight year she’s led the conference. She earned her second-straight All-MIAC honor after finishing in a tie for second at the MIAC Championships – just one shot behind medalist and teammate Grace Gilmore (Jr./Edina, Minn.). Holden appeared in nine events with five top-five finishes. She finished in the top 10 six times and had seven top-20 showings.
Moede’s Senior-of-the-Year award is a fitting finish to her tremendous career, which now includes three-straight all-conference selections. Moede tied for the ninth-best scoring average in the MIAC at 80.8 shots per round. She appeared in nine events this season with one top-five finish, two top-10 showings and was in the top 20 in six of her nine appearances.
This marked the second consecutive MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honor for Sieger, who shared the award with St. Thomas’ Sara Evens a year ago. This season, he coached five players to All-MIAC honors, and his players held the top three individual scoring averages in the MIAC, and four of the top five. His team’s 314.3 stroke average led the MIAC by more than eight shots per round, and they’ll represent the MIAC this week at the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championships.
The top 10 finishers at the fall’s MIAC Championships automatically earn All-MIAC honors, meaning that Holden, Gilmore and Geraldine Tellbuescher (So./Ashiya, Japan/Canadian Academy) were All-MIAC selections. Coaches voted five additional players to the all-conference squad, and two of those five were Knights. Taylor Wells (Sr./Rochester, Minn./Century) capped her tremendous career with a fourth-straight All-MIAC honor, while Moede received her third-straight award. Wells finished fifth in the conference with her 80.24 stroke average and recorded three top-10 finishes in nine tournaments, including a win in the College City Challenge.
The 16-member All-MIAC team included five seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and four first-year student-athletes. MIAC champ Carleton led the way with five honorees. St. Thomas, Saint Benedict, Bethel, Gustavus and St. Catherine each had two All-MIAC selections, and St. Olaf had one.
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC announced the ninth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for women’s golf. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. Mara Daly (Jr./St. Louis Park, Minn.) was selected as the Knights’ representative on the team.