JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. -- For the second consecutive tournament, a Christopher Newport women's golfer has made history with her first career round under par as junior Lauren Sims carded a one-under 71 in the final round of the Jekyll Island Women's Collegiate. Sims (+1) finished the 54-hole tournament tied for seventh with a 217, shattering the program record for scoring in a 54-hole tournament by three strokes. 

The Front Royal, Va. native opened the tournament with a career-best 72 and followed it up with a strong 74 in the second round. She saved the best for last with a one-under 71 in Sunday's finishing round to snag a top-ten finish in one of the most competitive tournaments of the season. 

Sims joins All-Americans Erica Whitehouse and Shreya Ganta as the only players in program history to record a round under par. It stands as only the fourth time a player has signed for a sub-par round, and the second time in the last four rounds after Ganta shot a 71 in the final round of the Savannah Invitational earlier this spring. 

While the single round performance was impressive, with three birdies and 13 pars, it was the cumulative effort that stands out for Sims this week. Prior to the Captains' appearance in the 2022 Jekyll Island event, no player had ever broken 220 in a 54-hole event. She bested Erica Whitehouse's program record 220 (+4) at the 2018 CAC Championship by a whopping three strokes and finished just one stroke over par with a 217 (72-74-71). 

Sims ranked third in the 120-player field with a 3.97 average (-1) on the Par 4 holes this weekend. She also ranked tied for second with total number of pars (39) and dropped in a team-high seven birdies. 

As a team, the Captains finished 20th overall with a 992 (338-327-327). Sims led the way while senior Shreya Ganta also recorded a top-30 finish by tying for 28th with a 227 (76-74-77). Elena Rezac was in 105th with a 263 (91-83-89) while Cameron Marshall finished in 115th at 286 (99-97-90) and Hannah Bristow wrapped up a 118th-place effort with a 294 (100-96-98). 

Christopher Newport will wrap up the spring regular season schedule at the Historic Triangle Intercollegiate on April 4-5. The Captains will host the event in Williamsburg, Va.