WWUs Lacy Sheldon Captures GNAC Individual Women’s Golf Title

Lacy Sheldon, a junior from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, captured the individual title at the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships that concluded Tuesday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course.

Sheldon (Dallas, TX/Legacy Christian/Montevallo) led wire-to-wire to finish the 36-hole tournament at 3-over-par 145 (73-72), recording a three-stroke victory over second-place finisher Belinda Lin from Simon Fraser University.

“Lacy played outstanding these last two days and really had a great season that deserves to be extended to the regionals,” said head coach Luke Bennett. “She makes coaching easy and fun. Her game was extremely polished, didn’t make mistakes and had a great short game. Very proud of her performance this week.”

She became the sixth Viking to win medalist honors in the nine-year history of the GNAC Women’s Golf Championships. She joins Sophie Elstrott (2011), Claire Rachor (2012), Kara Zitzman (2013), Anna Bourland (2014) and Kristen Hansen (2015).

The Vikings placed 3rd in the six-team championship with a team score of 64-over-par 632, falling short of receiving the GNAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships to end the 2018-19 season. Sheldon is hopeful to receive one of the six individual invitations to the West/South Central Regional that will be played May 6-8 in Amarillo, Texas.

“I had a blast coaching the game for the first time this season,” said Bennett, who now oversees both the men’s and women’s programs. “There were some positive moments and I look forward to the growth of the program.”

Simon Fraser recorded a 10-over-par 294 in Tuesday’s final round, erasing an eight-stroke deficit to begin the day to record a three-stroke victory over second-place Concordia. The title was the third in the last four years for the Clan at the GNAC Championships, also winning back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017. SFU earns the GNAC’s automatic qualifying position for the NCAA II Championships.

WWU freshman Sarah Shea (Sequim, WA) tied for 12th place at +20 (162) after a final round 79 and senior Hannah Drake (Pocatello, ID/Century) capped her WWU career tying for 14th place at +21 (163).

Sheldon led the 30-player field in scoring on the par 3 (-1) and par 4 (+4 holes), and tallied the second-most pars with 24. She also had five birdies, tied for third-most in the tournament. Sophomore Katelann Soth (Bonney Lake, WA/Kentwood) also had five birdies for the Vikings.