The women’s golf team surged forward placing fifth in the NCAC Championship Tournament that took place Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. Metzger sits in a tie for 19th place with a 176, and fellow freshman Michaela Redinger tied for 25th with a round of 192. This year the NCAC was hosted by Hiram College at the Mohican Hills Golf Club in Hiram, Ohio.

On the second day of the tournament, the Gators had a 30-stroke improvement, with the addition of Ari Capotis, ’16, who was unable to participate in the first round. Capotis’ score was the lowest single-round score for a member of the women’s golf team since 2014.

Following her performance, Metzger made a four-shot improvement, totaling her score on the second day to 86. Each of the golfers made a one-stroke improvement on their standings. Redinger posted a two-day score of 192, Kayla Orr, ’18, 193 and Paige Galloway, ’18, 194.

The defending conference champ Wittenberg University maintained a lead in first place and the Tigers follow up their lead of second place by 31 shots.

As a freshman, Metzger has been in the top five of 15 finishes from both the fall and the spring. Metzger also came in second place as a team at the John Carroll Invitational in the fall.

“Overall, I did not play as well as I had the weekend before and that can be fixed through detailed practice this week,” said Metzger. “I know that as a team we are going to be focusing on different aspects of our games this week so that each of us can experience score drops going into rounds 3 and 4. We are very excited to play this upcoming weekend because we have the potential to put up a one of our best team scores all year.”

The team this year is comprised of seven players, with Capotis being the only senior. The rest of the team consists of three freshman and three sophomores, a younger team than Allegheny is used to.

Assistant Coach Abby Sorenson is excited for the upcoming years with younger students stepping up to the tee.

“Looking ahead to next season our goal is a top-4 finish in the NCAC,” Sorensen said. “We already have four freshmen Gators committed for next year, and I’m excited about the competition they are going to bring to the program. We are lucky to have six golfers back who have experience in the starting lineup.”

The current golfers are excited to see the growth of the team as well.

“With having a team composed solely of three freshman, three sophomores, and one senior, we have a very young team and are looking to rebuild our team back to the team that had qualified for the national championships. I cannot wait to see how much we improve and grow as a whole in the upcoming year,” Metzger said.

Redinger also dreams of nationals in the coming years and finding success in her next three years at Allegheny.

“As a freshman, my first goal was to just make the team, but now I want to see the team succeed and win Nationals; not necessarily this year, but sometime in the next four years,” Redinger said.

The Gators will finish their spring season with rounds three and four of the NCAC Championship Tournament in Wooster, Ohio on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1, 2016. The scores carry over on to the final two rounds, but with a 30-stroke improvement from the first day the Gators are hopeful for a successful end to their season.