Middlebury won the team title with a combined score of 657, followed by Williams and Bowdoin Colleges. Even though Amherst was unable to tally a team score, all Jeffs who were present call the weekend a success.
Sarah Harper '07 led the Jeffs with a consistent score of 81-81-162, and a fourth-place overall finish in the tournament, missing tournament medalist honors by only eight strokes. "I was happy with my performance, but I'm still hoping to break back into the 70s by next week's invitational," said Harper. Teammate and senior captain Melissa Sidman was impressed with Harper's performance, though. "[She] strung together two very good rounds," she said.
Sidman, too, impressed her coach and teammates alike with her performance. She finished with a total of 95-90-185 on the weekend. Sunday's 90 was a career-best for the Bethesda, Md. native. "Sunday could have been even better except for some unfortunate 3 putts at the end of her round," said Head Coach Michelle Morgan. Nevertheless, Morgan, along with Sidman's teammates, were thrilled that she was able to shoot her career round.
Kristin Beneski '08 finished 28th overall, with a two-day total of 96-100-196. "[She] was a little frustrated with the sloping greens," said Morgan. "They were hard to read and difficult because of two very distinct speeds: slow uphill and incredibly quick downhill." Beneski's scores were still a great improvement, however, from last weekend's total of 206.
Though she still sees room for improvement, Morgan considers this weekend's competition a turning point from which the players will continue to progress for the remainder of the season. "At least these three players are on the verge of score improvements," she said. "Because of their mental management and course management, which has a strong carry over effect on their scoring performance.
The team will travel to Williams and Wellesley Colleges in the coming weekends to compete in its final two tournaments of the fall season. They will be rejoined next week by Ali Berman '08 and Cally Wheeler '06, who were unable to attend this weekend.