ORLANDO, Fla. – Freshman Sarah Kokotajlo (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) fired 79, her second round in the 70s, in the final day of the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, Sunday afternoon at Disney's par-72 Magnolia Golf Course. Jessica Kavanagh (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) finished first for the Blue and White, which compiled a three-day score of 978 after a final round 323, while the junior earned a top-15 result after shooting 242.
“I thought we had very impressive rounds on Friday and Sunday,” commented head coach Susan DeKalb. “I thought Jess did great job for us this weekend finishing in the top-15 which I was really excited to see and I was also very impressed with Sarah's first and third rounds. A lot of our players shot in the low 80s but we didn't do as well as the other teams, but I was pleased with our improvement this season.”
In the final round of the day, Kokotajlo played to par on the front nine after shooting seven-over on the back nine to complete the tournament with 246 (77-90-79), while both Kavanagh and Rebecca Gaona (Howell, N.J./Howell) turned in 81 on the afternoon. Kavanagh's three-round score of 242 (79-82-81) was her best 54-hole card of the season and landed her with a share of 15th on the individual leaderboard and first on the Hawks' scoresheet, three shots in front of Gaona (81-83-81). Freshman Faith Garcia (Stamford, Conn./Staples) was the next Hawk into the clubhouse on the afternoon, inking 82 to complete the championship with 251 (85-84-82) followed by classmate Kaitlin Clancy (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), who completed the weekend with 262 (89-84-89).
University at Albany won the team championship, posting 937 (303-320-314), 11 strokes in front of Siena (319-310-319). Fairfield captured third with 956 (316-319-321), two shots in front of Quinnipiac (317-316-325) and five shots ahead of Dayton (316-327-318). Niagara (331-332-327) trailed the Hawks by 12 shots, while Hartford closed out the eight-team field with 995 (328-339-328).
Monmouth returns six of seven letter winners to next year's team.
-@MU_wgolf-
