FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Old Dominion women's golf team wrapped up the Conference USA Championships at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Florida with a runner-up finish on Wednesday. The Lady Monarchs had three golfers, Rachel Walker, Sana Tufail and Maggie Simmermacher, who registered top-10 finishes in the 55-player field.
"We tip our hats to Middle Tennessee for a great tournament this weekend," head coach Andy Crabtree said. "We had a very young team this year with two freshmen and two sophomores in the lineup, so I really like the direction this program is headed. We had a great finish and will continue to keep building from here."
Reigning C-USA champion Middle Tennessee reclaimed the conference crown and will earn the automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Women's Golf Championship Regionals, while Old Dominion placed second and Southern Miss grabbed third.
Individually, FIU's Meghan MacLaren became just the second two-time Conference USA women's golf champion. ODU's Rachel Walker notched a third-place finish after capping off the tournament with a three-under 69 in round three. Freshman Sana Tufail placed sixth for the Lady Monarchs, and Maggie Simmermacher improved by three strokes in the final round to give ODU its third top-10 finisher. Katerina Vlasinova placed 27th and Charlotte De Corte took 31st.
ODU finished the tournament with the best par three scoring average (3.00) of all 11 teams. The Lady Monarchs also recorded the second-lowest par four scoring average (4.20) and had the second-highest par total with 161.
Walker tied for the best par four average (4.00), and Tufail recorded the tournament's second-lowest par three average (2.67). Walker also accumulated 38 pars, which was third-highest of all golfers.
Conference USA Championships
Verandah Club -- Fort Myers, Fla.
Par: 72 Yardage: 6194
April 18-20, 2016
Team Leaderboard -- Final
1. Middle Tennessee 296-296-284=876
2. Old Dominion 300-293-296=889
3. Southern Miss 300-303-293=896
T4. UTSA 306-303-298=907
T4. Western Kentucky 305-304-298=907
6. FIU 299-308-300=912
T7. UTEP 324-313-291=928
T7. Marshall 309-306-313=928
9. UAB 312-319-304=935
10. Florida Atlantic 307-325-312=944
11. North Texas 312-326-311=949
ODU Results -- Final
T3. Rachel Walker 76-73-69=218
T6. Sana Tufail 74-69-77=220
T10. Maggie Simmermacher 79-74-71=224
T27. Katerina Vlasinova 73-78-80=231
T31. Charlotte De Corte 77-77-79=233
C-USA All-Tournament Team
1. Meghan MacLaren, FIU (medalist)
2. Hanley Long, Middle Tennessee
T3. Emily Miller, Middle Tennessee
T3. Rachel Walker, Old Dominion
5. Samantha Gotcher, Middle Tennessee