For the three seniors on the Saint Mary's Golf team, this weekend will mark the last regular season tournament in which they will compete. The Belles will travel to Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio this afternoon for the annual Yellowjacket Invitational.
The event, which begins tomorrow at 9 a.m., is a two-day competition taking place at the Pine Hills Golf Course in Hinckley, Ohio.
Last year's event, which the Belles did not attend, featured such schools as Wilmington College, Capital University and John Carroll University. Few of the schools that will be at the event are likely to pose any major competition for the Belles, who are hoping to take the tournament.
Conference competitor Olivet College will be at the invitational and the Belles are hoping to perform well against them.
"Olivet is in our conference and we'd like to beat them," said Julia Adams. "The other teams we don't face much."
The most difficult thing for Saint Mary's this weekend may be to focus on the task at hand and not look too far ahead to the NCAA Championships, which will take place in a couple of weeks. The team is intent on doing everything necessary to get themselves ready for the event.
"We know that we need to focus on this weekend because each round helps us prepare for nationals ... but we have to be able to play well this weekend too," Adams said.
The Belles want to make sure that they don't get too ahead of themselves so as to compromise the task at hand, especially considering the unfavorable weather conditions that they will most likely be facing.
For seniors Julia Adams, Chrissy Dun-ham and Stefanie Sim-merman, this weekend will be something more than just one more tournament before nationals. All three women have been involved with the golf program throughout the duration of their time at Saint Mary's, and all three have contributed significantly to the growth of the program in recent years.
Dunham, the team captain, was named to the first team All-MIAA for the 2004 fall season.
She has shown immense improvement in the past three seasons, with her average score dropping from a 90.6 in the fall of 2002 to 81.73 in the fall of 2004.
Adams has taken numerous MIAA honors in the past few years, including being named All-MIAA first team in 2003 and 2004. She was an MIAA medalist for the 2004 season, and a conference tournament medalist in 2002 and 2004.
Simmerman rounds out the trio, having been named first team All-MIAA for the past four seasons. She was a conference co-medalist in 2003, and finished in twelfth place at the 2004 NCAA Tournament, and won the national title in 2003.
All three girls have earned three varsity letters so far with the program, and all have been consistent scorers for the team this spring.
The seniors will have one last chance to hone their skills before nationals at the invite this weekend.
