The NSU’s women’s golf team won their second championship in May, but the celebration continues. On Sept. 9, students can meet the athletes in the Don Taft University Center lobby from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., then at 7 p.m., before the women’s volleyball game, a banner ceremony will take place.
The team, who also won the title in 2009, will attend a private ring ceremony and dinner with Chancellor Ray Ferrero, Jr. and President George L. Hanbury II on Sept. 22 at Grand Oaks Country Club.
Assistant Women’s Golf Coach Amanda Brown is proud of the team. She said becoming back-to-back champions is a lot harder than it looks.
“To repeat that again, the very next year, takes a lot of character. It’s harder to stay on top than to get to the top,” she said. “We may have made it look easy, but it took a lot of years to get to this point.”
Confidence is one of the strengths that Brown said helped the team gain the win this year. That confidence paid off on the green when they grabbed an early lead and held on to it throughout the four-day competition.
Head Coach Kevin Marsh, said that winning the title felt even better the second time.
“The first year was a relief because we had tried so hard,” he said. “This time was more like a celebration.”
Sandra Changkija, senior busi-ness management major and golfer, who also competed in the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open, said that even though the players have different personalities, they work well together.
“We knew we wanted to win. We all wanted to win,” she said.
Athletic Director Michael Mominey never doubted the team’s ability to win back-to-back championships.
“Within a half hour of winning [in 2009], they were talking about next year,” he said.
Mominey said that even more impressive than the team’s chemistry is their great character.
“Their determination to be the best,” he said. “And to make each other the best they can be is
what makes them champions.”
For team members, another year means another chance at a championship and a familiar goal — winning.
Mominey is confident that the team has the talent to win another championship.
“They’re going to give it their best and give it their all,” he said.
