Depth has been the name of the game for the Loper golf team early in the season, as the team finished fourth at the Central Regional Preview and first at the Battle at Bayside.
The fourth place finish at the Central Regional Preview in Blue Springs, Missouri, was the third lowest 36-hole score in school history. The two-day event featured 17 teams, including schools from the MIAA, Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Senior Juliana Botero Molina finished as the runner up, shooting a career best round of 3-under-par-69 on day two. That round is the third best in UNK history and is only the program’s fifth all time under 70 score.
“I don’t think I’ve ever finished top three in the first two fall events of the year,” Botero Molina said. “There’s some things to polish, but shooting my career best was pretty amazing to do at a course I love.”
Botero Molina is a three time All-MIAA selection and has a current stroke average that would as of now set a new Loper record.
The senior has goals for what this last year will hold.
“We (Brooke King and Botero Molina) have a common goal that is to just soak up every moment and have so much fun,” Botero Molina said. “We want to leave our mark on the team by being good seniors for them, being there for them, supporting them and leaving our little mark.”
Only 10 strokes separated the entire Loper lineup at the preview event, helping lead them to the fourth place finish.
“Shawn (Rodehorst, coach) is making hard decisions of who to put in the line up because it’s really close,” Botero Molina said. “It’s really good because it means we’re all good.”
The Lopers sent two teams to the Battle at Bayside this past week, with the A team finishing in first, and the B team in fifth.
True freshman Calie Dockter was part of the B team and shot a 9-over 151 and sank a 40-foot putt to finish as the individual winner.
“I just tried to go out there and play my best,” Dockter said. “I honestly wasn’t expecting anything at all.”
With a freshman winning the Battle at Bayside, it demonstrates just how deep the Lopers are this year.
“There’s so much talent on this team,” Dockter said. “Everyone is capable of shooting low scores, so I think it’s cool to be able to go out there and compete with them. Whether you’re on the A team or the B team, you know that the girls are super talented.”
Four other Lopers finished in the top 10 to help give UNK the team title.
UNK has a rare home event for their next event, when the team hosts the MIAA preview Sept. 23-24.
