Women's golf team wins Northeast Championship, Redman leads effort

A week ago, life did not look so good for women's golf. The Tigers finished second at the Ivy League Championship — and without the automatic bid to the NCAA Regional.

This past weekend, things looked better as the team was in a familiar place — at the top. The team ended its season by winning the Northeast Champion-ship held in Amherst, Mass.

Junior Vanessa Redman led the charge, finishing first overall with a 77. Two freshmen followed her lead. Avery Kiser shot a 78 to tie for second and Meg Nakamura shot an 80 to finish in fourth. Sophomore Esty Dwek tied for eighth with an 82 and Junior Megan Milam tied for 17th with an 84.

The Northeast Championship was the team's first win of the year, but its fourth straight tournament with a top three finish.

Although Princeton will not be heading to the NCAA Regional this year, the Tigers' future looks promising. Princeton was led all year by Kiser — a freshman who took the individual title at both the William and Mary Invitational and the Ivy League Champion-ship.

As a team Princeton had great depth and could count on different players to step up each weekend. In addition to Kiser, underclassmen Nakamura, Milam and Dwek were key to the team's success. Redman provided the leadership that the team needed due to its inexperience.

The only major disappointment all season came at a crucial tournament, the Ivy League Championship, where the Tigers did not play up to their potential.

"It was a tough loss because we knew we could win but we just didn't play as well as we normally do," Redman said. "It could not have come at a worse time to play like that."

With a significant core of underclassmen returning next year, look for Princeton to come out with confidence and determination in the fall.

On the other side of the clubhouse, the men's team finished seventh at the Rutherford Intercollegiate in University Park, PA in its first action since winning a third-straight Ivy League title and capturing an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional.

Junior Cassidy Traub led the way for the Tigers with a three-round total of 220, which included a 67, his lowest round of the year. Senior James Milam played consistent golf yet again, finishing right behind Traub with a 221. Freshman Creighton Page did not play as consistently, but still managed to finish with a 226. Page started out nine shots over par after his first nine holes of the tournament, and ended up only ten shots over par after three rounds. Sophomores Jon Nuger and Greg Johnson finished with scores of 228 and 236, respectively.

The Tigers intend to put this tournament behind them and focus all their energy on the upcoming NCAA Regional, which starts May 16.

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The top 10 teams advance to the NCAA finals. Last year, Princeton finished 24th in the NCAA East Regional in Williamsburg, VA. If every Tiger plays up to his potential this year, Princeton will have a shot at making the top 10. The biggest obstacle the Tigers will have to overcome is the inconsistency that has plagued them for much of this year.

"We are going to practice hard in the next two weeks," Page said. "We have a great team this year and have shown that on any weekend any one of us can post low rounds. Hopefully we can all play well at the same time during the NCAA Regional."

For the most part, Princeton has played well all year and should put together a strong effort at the tournament.

Like the women's team, the men's squad has a talented group of underclassmen that have been critical to the team's success throughout the year. Princeton has also gotten leadership from Milam and Traub. The Tigers have the talent to perform well at the NCAA Regional, now only the team's execution will decide how far it goes.