University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Mark Several Achievements in 2015-16
4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
The 2015-16 Minnesota women's golf season saw a number of records fall amidst outstanding individual and team performances, particularly from a young squad that featured no seniors and three newcomers.
This past season, the Gophers set several impressive marks. As a team, the Gophers set new 36-hole and 54-hole records, both coming in Las Vegas. Individually, sophomores Heather Ciskowski and Sabrine Garrison displayed tremendous growth in their second year with the team, both breaking the progam's single-season scoring average record of 74.19. Ciskowski ended the year with an average of 73.93, while Garrison was close behind at 74.04 strokes per round.
Freshman Muyu Wu also entered the record books, setting a new first-year scoring record as she averaged 75.75 strokes per round. Junior Emie Peronnin posted the best season of her Gopher career at 74.93 stroke average, moving her to third in the all-time career scoring average charts at 76.21.
Following the season, Peronnin was recognized by the Big Ten Conference as the Gophers' honoree for the conference's Sportsmanship Award.
Minnesota opened the season at home with their best team finish of the season. The Maroon and Gold tied for fourth at the Minnesota Invitational in September, including a top finish by Celia Kuenster (68-72-73-213).
The young Gopher squad gained valuable experience throughout the fall season, and saw their hard work pay off with several record-breaking performances at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown from October 25-27.
Garrison finished off a record-setting three days as she posted a final score of 10-under-par 206 (69-68-69), tying for 10th place. She set a new school record for lowest 54-hole score, eclipsing Teresa Puga's 208 set in 2011 at the UCF Challenge. Garrison also paced the Gophers to a new team 54-hole record of 851, 12 strokes better than the current mark which was set last year in Las Vegas. The Gophers also set a new 36-hole mark of 567, again besting last fall's Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown which stood as the record by one stroke.
After the winter intermission, the Gophers returned to action and saw steady improvement culminating with their best spring finish at the Silverado Showdown. There, the Gophers placed sixth among a strong 18-team field, highlighted by a pair of top-25 finishes for Wu and Ciskowski. Freshmen Maggie Heggerston and Niamh Ward also saw extensive time competing on the course.
Head coach Michele Redman is excited about the future of the team with the young players on the Gopher roster.
The Gophers narrowly missed the NCAA Regionals field, finishing the season ranked 60th in the Golfstat rankings and just outside of a postseason berth. However, with a young team that will graduate no seniors, the encouraging growth and development shown on the course in 2015-16 will lead to further program success next season.
Players Mentioned
