Season Review: Women's Golf records second winning season in last three seasons, posts fifth place finish at OAC Championships

By Caleb Scott

ADA — For the second time in the last three seasons, the Ohio Northern women's golf team posted a winning record, while finishing fifth in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings under fifth-year head coach Chad Bucci.

Northern also posted its fifth consecutive season with at least 26 victories after posting a solid 27-18 record in 2017-18.

Two athletes were named All-OAC honorees for their efforts at the OAC Championships at River Greens Golf Course in West Lafayette.

Freshman Lydia Cranmer (Farmington Hills, Mich./Ladywood) and senior Raven Venegas (Lima/Shawnee) each earned All-Conference honors as Cranmer finished third out of 40 golfers and Venegas finished tied for 13th to earn All-OAC kudos.

Cranmer and Venegas ranked 1-2, respectively in scoring on the team, as Cranmer led the way averaging 84.6 strokes per round and Venegas was second on the team, averaging 85.7 strokes per round.

A career-low round of 75 for Cranmer earned her Medalist honors at the Heidelberg Fall Invitational and also tied her for the third best round in school history.

Her 36-hole final score of 157 at the Heidelberg Fall Invitational is the fifth best 36-hole tournament score in school history.

The freshman now owns the fifth best single season average in school history (84.6), while Venegas owns the eighth best single season in school history (85.7).

Junior Caitlin Silva (Hilliard/Bradley) rounded out the top-3 Polar Bear golfers this season, averaging 87.9 strokes per round, a mark that ranks 15th in a single season at ONU.

Silva now owns two of the top-20 single season scoring rounds in school history.

Silva and Venegas were joined by juniors Taylor Daniel (Columbia City, Ind.) and Alaina Mikolajewski (Piqua) as all four athletes were named Academic All-OAC for their efforts.

The Polar Bears kicked off the season by winning the season-opening ONU Classic before posting a strong second place finish at the Ohio Wesleyan Fall Invitational.

After sitting in fifth place after Day 1 of the Heidelberg Fall Invitational, ONU finished in third place. A fifth place finish at the OAC Fall Preview and two rounds at the University of Dayton Fall Invitational would wrap up the 2017 portion of the schedule for Northern.

Northern got back to work and opened the new year and spring portion of the schedule as it competed in the 3-day Amelia Atlantic Classic in Fernandia Beach, Fla.

After returning home, ONU competed in the Otterbein Cardinal Classic before traveling back to Delaware to compete in the Ohio Wesleyan Spring Invitational.

The season would come to an end after ONU finished fifth at the OAC Championships.