INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Becoming just the third player in program history to qualify for the NCAA Division III Women's Golf National Championships, Christopher Newport junior
Lauren Sims was selected to compete in the 2022 title event next week. Sims will travel to Houston, Texas to play from May 10-13 at the Bay Oaks Country Club.
Sims joins an elite club of just three CNU women's golfers to qualify for the national championship event, joining
Erica Whitehouse (2019) and two-time national qualifier
Shreya Ganta (2021, 2022). In the first five years of the program's existence, the Captains have qualified an individual to the national championship in three of a possible four postseason events (2020 canceled due to COVID-19).
The event consists of both team and individual competition concurrently; following 54 holes of competition, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams to compete the final day.
The Par 72 championship course will be played a 5,866 yards and Sims will have the opportunity to practice on Monday, May 9 before competition begins on Tuesday. She will tee off at 2:00 p.m. with fellow individual qualifiers Emma Thorman (Illinois Wesleyan) and Karen Avarez (University of Texas at Dallas). In Wednesday's second round, Sims will tee off at 9:20 a.m. on the tenth hole; in the third round, she will again start on hole number ten with tee time set for 1:20 p.m.
Spectators will be permitted and admission to the event is free for practice and competition rounds. For fans unable to attend, live scoring will be used throughout the tournament on Golfstat.com. Live video and blog coverage will be available on NCAA.com for the final two days of competition.
This Spring, Sims has enjoyed record-breaking success to lead the way for the Captains as a team. At the Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate, Sims broke the program's 54-hole record for scoring and recorded her first career round under par. She added another round under par at the Historic Triangle Invitational and finished in the top five at the home tournament. In fact, in six events this season, Sims has finished at par or better in four rounds of play. That bests the previous season record of three set by Whitehouse in 2018-19.
The CNU junior averaged 76.6 strokes per round this season and lowered her career average to 80.3, ranking third all-time at CNU.
Full scores and recaps will be available following the action in each round. Stay tuned to CNUsports.com and follow @CNUathletics on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.
