43
YSU women golfers off to a strong start
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State women’s golf team finished third last April at the Horizon League championships at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
According to second-year head coach Nate Miklos, it was a not-so-happy ending to what started out as such a promising season.
But it was an ending that served as inspiration for this year’s team.
While returning all but one player from that squad and adding a talented freshman to the mix, it’s easy to understand why Miklos and staff are cautiously optimistic.
“We knew that we had a very strong team returning and everyone put in a lot of hard work over the summer preparing for this year. Our season has gotten off to a great start and we’re hoping to continue that at the Clarion Fall Invitational this weekend,” Miklos said. “I look at this year as a season of unlimited possibilities since we’ve returned our entire team and coaching staff in one form or other.”
Ann Ciavarella returns for her second season as Miklos’ assistant while last year’s lone senior, Angela Molaskey, is now a student assistant coach.
The lone newcomer is freshman Courtney Shutt of Dover.
“At this point the coaching staff and players have a great level of familiarity, which helps us communicate more effectively and better coach each of the players,” Miklos said. “Continuity like that throughout a program helps tremendously as we continue to work and strive to take this program to the next level.”
The Penguins opened their fall campaign by hosting and winning the inaugural Roseann Schwartz Invitational at their home course, Candywood Golf Club.
YSU fired a school-record 606 (306-300) for the 36-hole event and was led by medalist Emily Dixon’s 147 (72-75) to finish four shots ahead of league rival and runner-up Cleveland State.
“It meant a lot to be able to host an event that honored coach Schwartz and all she did to help build this program. She consistently recruited strong players and I feel very fortunate to have inherited such a great, talented group of student-athletes,” Miklos said. “It meant even more to win the event and start the fall season on such a positive note.”
The Penguins, led by co-captain Aislynn Merling’s 77-82-72, followed that up with a fifth-place finish (out of 14 teams) at the Bucknell Invitational, shooting 951.
“Last year’s finish is motivation for us this season so our quick start doesn’t surprise me one bit. We’re a deep team and can count on everyone, one through eight,” Merling said. “Our goals and expectations are high so we must continue to work hard, play as a team and just enjoy the moment.”
At Bucknell, the Penguins struggled the first day with rounds of 318-324, but bounced back with a 309 on the final day of play.
Staying focused won’t be a problem, according to Mitzel.
“Aislynn and I have played together since our freshman year so we’re able to share valuable insight to the other team members on what to expect over the course of a season. We feed off and push each other, which makes us work that much harder,” Mitzel said. “The best thing is that we share our successes.”
Junior Emily Dixon has also emerged as one of the team’s top players after transferring from the University of Toledo last spring.
She posted her second career win by topping the field in their home invitational, following that up with a top-20 finish at Bucknell.
“It’s hard to believe that this is still only Emily’s second semester at YSU, yet she has really grown in her golf and leadership roles in such a short period of time,” Miklos added.
Junior Emily Rohanna, sophomore Mia Barchetti and Shutt all figure to battle for playing time with Rohanna coming off a strong sophomore season and adapting to fall action.
Sophomore Haleigh Guerrero and senior Sana Khan are players who will also fight for a spot in the line-up.
Their goals, while simple in nature, still remain the same under Miklos’ tutelage.
“This team has a great work ethic and I see a lot of opportunities for us to excel this year. Our goal since day one is to win our conference in April and then advance to the NCAA Regionals. We’re off to a good start, yet there’s still a lot of work that has to be done in order for us to become the team we need to be if we expect to reach that goal,” Miklos said. “After this weekend, we still have two fall events remaining at Oakland and Butler universities so we want to finish strong and build some momentum for the spring portion of our schedule.”