BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Freshmen Faith Garcia (Stamford, Conn./Staples), Kaitlin Clancy (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) and Sarah Kokotajlo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) all landed in the top-20 to pace the Monmouth University women's golf team to a fourth place result in the fall season finale at the Lehigh Invitational, held Sunday and Monday at the par 72, 6012-yard Saucon Valley Country Club Grace Course. The Hawks, who finished day one with 339, climbed two spots with their second-round 320, good for a 36-hole score of 659.
“I thought our team played with a lot of confidence over the last two days,” commented head coach Susan DeKalb. “We accomplished our team goal of shooting 320 and it is great to end the fall on such a high note.”
Garcia, Clancy and Kokotajlo each finished within three shots of each other with Garcia leading the way. The rookie rebounded from a first round 83 with 78 to total 161, good for 14th. Clancy, who carded 82 in the first round and rallied to shoot 80 in the second round following 43 on the front nine, finished a shot behind Garcia in 15th, while Kokotajlo earned a share of 20th after firing 84 and 80 to earn 164. Rookie Erin DiDonato (Hammonton, N.J./Hammonton) took 10 shots off her first round score to end the event with 174 (92-82) and junior Rebecca Gaona (Howell, N.J./Howell) rounded out the Hawks' card with 182 (90-92). Playing as individuals, junior Jessica Kavanagh (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) and senior Ashley Navin (Ware, Mass./Quabbin Regional) shot 169 (88-81) and 191 (94-87), respectively.
Princeton cruised to the team title, shooting 613, 24 strokes in front of second place Lehigh. Albany earned third with its 643, followed by the Hawks and IUPUI, which compiled 667 over the two-day tournament. St. Francis (Pa.), which came in sixth with 670, was trailed by Hartford seven shots behind, while Niagara (696) and Holy Cross (733) rounded out the nine-team field.
Monmouth will continue its 2014-2015 campaign this upcoming March.
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