{"id":13013,"date":"2025-10-21T08:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13013"},"modified":"2025-10-21T08:58:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:58:07","slug":"uw-stout-womens-golf-outpaces-field-to-win-conference-crown-sets-eyes-on-national-tourney","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stout-womens-golf-outpaces-field-to-win-conference-crown-sets-eyes-on-national-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stout women\u2019s golf outpaces field to win conference crown, sets eyes on national tourney"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
The UW-Stout women’s golf team celebrates their victory at the WIAC Championship. \/ Photo by Steve Frommell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blue Devils win first WIAC title since 2016, earn NCAA bid<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0UW-Stout women\u2019s golf team\u2019s\u00a0victory this month at the conference championship<\/a>, where they triumphed by a near-record margin, isn\u2019t the culmination of a season: It\u2019s a sign of things to come for a young, focused and talented Blue Devils team.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Julia Imai<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0junior Brin Neumann<\/strong>\u00a0placed first and second individually at the\u00a0Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Championship<\/a>\u00a0Oct. 3-5 at the Reedsburg Country Club in Reedsburg, topping the leaderboard and driving the Blue Devils to a 48-stroke victory over runner-up UW-Whitewater, the eight-time defending champions. It was the fourth conference title for the Blue Devils, who last won the WIAC crown in 2016, as well as Imai\u2019s second individual championship.<\/p>\n

It was also the second consecutive season that\u00a0Head Coach Sophia Connett<\/strong>\u00a0was named WIAC Coach of the Year. At this year\u2019s WIAC tournament the Blue Devils managed their emotions \u2014 and their play \u2014 better than they had the previous year, when they came within nine strokes of the title, Connett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we made it our main focus to address our fears and nerves and just go in with the killer mindset, which I\u2019d say was exemplified by our margin,\u201d Connett said, noting the team took a 19-stroke lead on the first day of this year\u2019s championship and didn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter day one we had a chat with the girls about staying focused and keeping the same mindset even though we were winning by that much,\u201d Connett continued. \u201cWe just wanted to go and do the exact same thing again, and we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the split nature of the college golf season, the Conference Championship wasn\u2019t the end of the road for this year\u2019s Blue Devil golfers: Barely a week later they\u00a0finished fifth in a field of 24 teams<\/a>\u00a0from across the country at the Golfweek October Classic in Sandestin, Florida, where Imai tied for second place among 120 players. The team will now take a break until spring, when they will begin the second half of the 2025-26 season, culminating in a trip to the NCAA Championship May 19-22 in Palm Desert, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving nationals in May makes the spring season a little bit more focused and a little bit more competitive, which I would say is exciting for all of us,\u201d Connett said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Championship mentality\u2019 lauded<\/h3>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly proud of our women\u2019s golf team for winning the WIAC Championship,\u201d said\u00a0Erin Sullivan, UW-Stout director of Athletics and Recreation<\/strong>. \u201cTheir unwavering focus and championship mentality were evident throughout the tournament. This marks our first championship of the academic year, and it sets a strong tone for the months ahead. We look forward to supporting the team as they prepare for the national championship in May. They continue to represent UW-Stout and Stout Athletics with excellence and pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

The championship is the latest in a string of athletic successes for UW-Stout women, including the\u00a0basketball team\u2019s trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four<\/a>\u00a0last spring and the flag football team\u2019s victory in the first-ever\u00a0Midwest College Women\u2019s Flag Football League Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andrew Delong, UW-Stout director of golf<\/strong>, said the women\u2019s golf program has been building toward a WIAC championship over the past few seasons. \u201cTo fight for a goal and finally see it accomplished is tremendously rewarding,\u201d Delong said. \u201cAchievements like this take a whole community. While our student athletes played exceptionally and deserve the spotlight, the contributions of so many others in and around Menomonie cannot be overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

In particular, Delong credited Tanglewood Greens, a Menomonie golf course, for providing access to help players develop their skills, as well as the flexibility that UW-Stout instructors give to student athletes during the season. Donors are also critical to the program\u2019s success, Delong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0Pat Kell Golf Center<\/a>, our indoor facility made possible by Mike Kell and his family, has given our players an incredible space to train over the winter months,\u201d he added. \u201cFinally, the support and pride demonstrated by\u00a0Chancellor Katherine Frank<\/strong>\u00a0and our upper administration is contagious and our golfers carry it out on the course.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Written by Tom Giffey<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwstout.edu\/about-us\/news-center\/uw-stout-womens-golf-outpaces-field-win-conference-crown-sets-eyes-national-tourney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blue Devils win first WIAC title since 2016, earn NCAA bid The\u00a0UW-Stout women\u2019s golf team\u2019s\u00a0victory this month at the conference championship, where they triumphed by a near-record margin, isn\u2019t the culmination of a season: It\u2019s a sign of things to come for a young, focused and talented Blue Devils team. Sophomore Julia Imai\u00a0and\u00a0junior Brin Neumann\u00a0placed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[90],"story_category":[147],"class_list":["post-13013","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stout","story_category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13013"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}