LEXINGTON, Va. -- Making history for the Captains, Christopher Newport freshman
Ayla Browning collected her first career tournament victory and led the CNU Women's Golf team to a thrilling finish at the 5th Annual VSGA Women's Intercollegiate as the Captains hauled in the team's third team championship of the 2024-25 season. Browning (+3) signed for a program-record-tying 147 after a one-over 73 on Tuesday and became just the third player in program history to capture individual medalist honors.
Before Browning collected her first win, Christopher Newport legend Erica Whitehouse piled up seven tournament victories in her four year career. Last year,
Maddie Stokes added a win at the Chick-Fil-A Collegiate Invite to round out the trio of champion Captains.
The historic finish came after Browning was flawless on the front nine. She dropped in seven par putts and added two birdies, on the 3rd and 7th holes, to score a 33 on the front. She notched a third birdie on the 10th hole and closed out the round with 11 pars to wrap up a one-over 73. She paired that round with an opening round 74 and surged ahead of Juliette Coffey (+5) from Virginia Wesleyan for the win by two strokes.
Also finishing in the top ten were
Elena Rezac (+14) and
Alex Delgado (+15) with a ninth- and tenth-place finish for the Captains. Rezac finished the two-day event with a 158 (77-81) and Delgado dropped five strokes from her opening round score to finish with a 159 (82-77). Delgado poured in three birdies in the first ten holes including shots on the 1st, 6th and 10th to close the gap on the top ten.
Rounding out the counting scores on Tuesday as the Captains erased a three-stroke deficit on day two was
Katie Watson (+23) with an overall tournament score of 167 (84-83). On day two, Watson scored a birdie on the 6th hole and finished seven pars to snag a 17th place finish. CNU trailed by Southern Virginia by three strokes after the first 18 holes but surged by the Knights with a six-stroke turnaround to earn the team victory by three at 48-over par with a 624 (310-314).
Julia Pelletier (+21) served as the drop score in the second round but finished in the top-15 with a 14th place showing after signing for a 165 (77-88). Three individuals also played for the Captains including a 12th-place effort by
Taylor Davis with a 162 (78-84).
Maggie Umphlet (+34) trimmed four strokes off her opening round score to finish in 32nd with a 178 (91-87) and
Hannah Willman (+33) also shaved a stroke off her final score with a 177 (89-88).
Browning played in nine events during her first season and led the team with a 78.37 scoring average which ranks as the second best rookie season in program history. She finishes out the regular season behind only Whitehouse (77.8) on the freshman charts while also setting a rookie record for total rounds played with 19.
As a team, the Captains logged three of the finest 36-hole tournament performances ever for CNU in 2024-25 including the VSGA Women's Intercollegiate. CNU fired a 619 at the Westbrook Village Invitational (2nd), added a 621
at the Lynn Schweizer Invitational (3rd) and now add a 624 at the VSGA (5th).
