Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
A week after tying the record for the lowest round in MacEwan women's golf history, Elizabeth Stewart shattered it on Sunday.
In posting a sublime 74 in the final round of the ACAC South Regional in Medicine Hat on Sunday – a mark that lowered the school standard by four shots – the Royal Mayfair GC product cruised to a two-shot victory in the tourney.
Her two-round total of 157 (83-74), which beat Red Deer College's Shaye Leidenius (79-80), also set a new Griffins record for the lowest in an ACAC Regional tournament, besting Sydney Johnson-Parker's 161 from the 2013 South Regional.
"She was so good today," said Griffins golf coach Jodi Campbell. "In many ways, she was due for one of these breakthrough rounds. People talk about players being in the zone and she was there today. She was just on point with everything."
Stewart's fine day also led the Griffins women's golf team to a 16-stroke win over runner-up Medicine Hat – their second-straight Regional team crown.
"The girls have seen a lot of success and I think if they start to get complacent, thinking that's going to happen all the time without working at it, they're going to run into some trouble," said Campbell. "What they've done really well is just continually work hard and the hard work is going to produce the results. So that's what they're seeing right now."
Daniela Donnelly finished fourth (82-87), Hailey Turcotte was seventh (88-88) and Rachel Wiebe matched her ACAC-best eighth-place finish (89-92) that she had last weekend.
The Griffins men's team – winners last week at the ACAC North Regional in Camrose – settled for second this time when their score of 600 fell seven shots shy of Red Deer College (593).
"Red Deer had an unreal round on Day 1 as a team and they jumped out ahead of us," said Campbell of the Kings, who were led by Cole Morrison's 69 on Saturday. "We also played good on Day 1, but they shot lights out. So, we had a 12-shot lead to come back from. The team was definitely focused on trying to do that.
"We came up a little bit short, but I think the mental framework we created to get them ready for that was maybe a good lesson to learn midway through the season," he added. "I think it's going to serve the team really well as we go into provincials next weekend."
Christian Solkowski (71-75) led the Griffins with a third-place finish, three shots back of winner Michael Harrison of UAlberta-Augustana.
"The biggest thing we're seeing out of him right now is consistency," said Campbell. "His game has developed so much in the last couple of years that no question, he's providing a ton of leadership as a veteran player this year.
"We're pretty pumped for him. He had a pretty good weekend."
Justin Berget (77-72) and Josh Gorieu (77-72) tied for ninth, while Noah Lubberding (T17, 78-81), Dakota Smith (T19, 82-80), Zac Yurick (T27, 75-91), and Brandon Walterhouse (T27, 81-85) rounded out their results. Les Fisher only played the second round, shooting a 79.
The Griffins now head home where they'll be preparing for the ACAC Championships that they will host – next Saturday and Sunday at Red Tail Landing GC.
