Tuesday, April 20, 2021

DUPONT, Wash. – It was close but Kathryn Crimp was up for the challenge.

The Saint Martin’s sophomore came out on top in a close individual race while Western Washington ran away with its sixth team title at the 2021 GNAC Women’s Golf Championships, which finished Tuesday at The Home Course.

Crimp and teammate Hoku Nagamine were tied after Monday’s first round. She responded by shooting three birdies in the second to turn in a tournament-low 4-over-par 76 for a final score of 153 to claim the Saints’ first-ever individual title. Nagamine carded a 6-over-par 78 and was the runner-up with her two-day score of 155.

In all, the top four players were separated by a total of three strokes.

“It was close. There were roughly 10 players within three shots of me at one point,” said Crimp, who is the first individual GNAC champion in program history. “I knew I had to play well but I was mainly focused on my own game. I didn’t try to focus on where I was on the leaderboard. I kept grinding to score as low as I could.”

Western Washington had the next four individual finishers, carding a two-day team score of 627 to win the program’s first title since 2015 and earn the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II Championships. The West Regional will take place May 3-5 at the Wildhorse Golf Club at Robson Ranch in Denton, Texas.

Sophomore Sarah Shea and freshman Dani Bailey tied for third place with both players finishing at 156. Junior Colby Heggenes placed fifth with a score of 157 and freshman Elise Sumner was sixth with her score of 158.

Northwest Nazarene used a strong second round to take second place with a team score of 638. Freshman Paige Vancil led the Nighthawks in seventh place with a two-day score of 159 as all four scoring NNU players finished right behind the Western Washington quartet.

Saint Martin’s placed third with a score of 641 while Montana State Billings was fourth at 653. Junior Tierney Messmer led the Yellowjackets, placing 11th with a score of 162.