Solid season helps Mustangs prep for national tourney

DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. — A solid track record of success is a key reason why the Morningside women's golf team is competing this week at the NAIA Tournament.

The Mustangs are competing at the national tournament starting Tuesday in Ypsilani, Michigan, for the fourth time since 2020, and the seventh since 2016. They qualified by winning the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament on April 28 in convincing fashion, and earned the league's automatic bid.

"​​You don't see a lot of teams in the Midwest that have sustained runs like we've been lucky to have," head coach Nick Wanderscheid said. "One thing you learn is that you never get comfortable because it can change really quick, and we just try to stay ahead of it. We just keep trying to bring good players in, develop them while they're here. And it certainly helps recruiting in that we've had a track record of success."

The eight juniors on the team were part of Wanderscheid's first recruiting class, and this is their second chance at nationals. A couple years ago, Lucy Brown led that group to a Top 30 team finish, and she hasn't taken for granted that opportunity.

"Nationals isn't something everyone gets to do," Brown said. "Last year, we didn't make it, but I'm so grateful I get to play with my team. We did it."

Brown was one key factor in why the Mustangs were successful at the GPAC tourney. Morningside controlled the GPAC Championships from start to finish, placing all five golfers inside the top 10 and earning spots on the GPAC All-Tournament Team. The Mustangs finished with a team score of 953, capturing the conference title by 25 strokes.

Kamryn Zuniga, Brown, Ivanna Becerra-Diaz, Macy Button and Alysen Sander all placed in the Top 10, garnering GPAC All-Tournament status. When Wanderscheid looks back at how well the Mustangs played, he again looks back at how chill the team acted during the tournament played at Dakota Dunes Country Club.

"We didn't get intimidated by the course and they played awesome," Wanderscheid said. "They never looked down when things were difficult and they didn't complain about the weather and the golf course being hard and everything they just played and they were just five robots out there. And that was by far the most satisfying thing."

The Mustangs will try to use that chill vibe when playing against the 30-team field and six individual qualifiers this week at Eagle Crest. On the way to Michigan, Wanderscheid said the team played on different courses between Sioux City and Ypsilanti to both develop anticipation and to play new courses.

"The challenge, of course, is when that does finally get here to not make it bigger than it is," Wanderscheid said. "We spend all year thinking about it and then on the day before we tee off, it's like, okay, now we just treat this like any other tournament."