<ylor Wells (Sr./Rochester, Minn./Century) fired a final-round three-over par 76 for her first collegiate win as all five Carleton College players finished inside the top 10, propelling the Knights to a victory at the College City Challenge.
Wells finished two clear of the field at nine-over par 155, edging out Erin Dingmann of St. Thomas. The win marked the Knights’ fourth straight to begin the season and sixth consecutive, dating back to last spring, as they fired rounds of 322-311—633 to finish 11 shots ahead of St. Thomas (644). Gustavus Adolphus ended third at 659.
“It was another amazing round by our players,” Carleton head coach Eric Sieger said. “The conditions were difficult today, but we were able to once again play with lots of confidence and poise and post a low score.”
Wells was hardly the only Knight to go low, as Grace Gilmore (Jr./Edina, Minn.) and Kelsey Moede (Sr./Lake Oswego, Ore.) both rebounded from a rough first round to shot 77 and 78, respectively. Moede ended up tied for seventh while Gilmore tied for ninth. Sophomores Shannon Holden (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) and Geraldine Tellbuescher (Ashiya, Japan/Canadian Academy) were steady all weekend, as Holden posted rounds of 79-80—159 to tie for third and Tellbuescher posted identical 80s to finish fifth.
Wells is the second Knight to win an event over the last two weeks, as Gilmore topped the field at last week’s 15-team D3 Classic. In all, four different players have paced the Knights each of the four tournaments this fall.
“We’re very fortunate to have quality depth up and down our lineup,” Sieger said. “We know that any of our starting five can lead us any given week and that’s a major strength of our squad.”
The Knights are now off for a weekend from competition before heading to the MIAC Championships on Oct. 4-6. The Knights missed out on their first conference title a year ago by one shot.
“We know the stakes and the conference tournament has certainly been in the back of our minds for a while,” Sieger said. “We’ve done a great job all season of staying present and focusing on our games and the things we can control, and we’ll just need to take that mentality into the conference championship. I know the ladies are hungry to go out and perform well over the three days.”