Rend Lake College Athletics issued the following announcement on Sept. 8
The Rend Lake women’s golf team is back in action this fall and ready to see similar success not only on the golf course but also with their studies.
“The 2021 Lady Warriors golf season was absolutely a success,” Head Coach James Gray said. “Qualifying a team for the national tournament is always the goal, so to be able to do that in a rather truncated and unique season was very satisfying. Another success story from last year is that we were 14th of 100 in GPA for Women’s Golf nationally, we strive for performance both on the course and in the classroom.”
The Lady Warriors had two golfers receive a perfect 4.0 GPA last year. Both Alex Sadler (England) and Rylee White (Coulterville) were named to the NJCAA Academic Excellence first-team. Sadler, who graduated this past spring, is now continuing her collegiate career for Tennessee State University.
“White will be trying for the rare back-to-back- years with a 4.0,” Gray said. “Sadler also maintained a 4.0 for the whole year and parlayed that with some excellent golf to receive a full-ride scholarship to D1 Tennessee State University. Winning is great, but graduating these kids and getting them scholarship offers is really what it is all about.”
Looking forward to this year’s schedule, Gray said the Lady Warriors feature “eight fantastic women with a lot of potential.” Sophomores include White, Sydnie Ralls (Anna) and Jaylee Glenn (McLeansboro), and Gray adds that any of these student-athletes could emerge as a team leader.
“(These sophomores) are poised to make leaps this year and show everyone what they can do with a full season,” he said. “Leadership will be a big key for 2022, if you can get everybody pulling in the same direction it just makes everything just a little easier. All three of the returning sophomores have the ability to lead. Jaylee has an insane work ethic, Sydnie has an ultra-competitive nature and Rylee acts as a team mom and makes sure everyone is in line.”
The freshmen class includes Natalie Messinger (Alton), Averie Bushue (Teutopolis) and Maddie Burgess (Sesser-Valier). Each of these recruits have had success at the high school level. Other newcomers include Adeline Edwards (Paducah, KY) and Karena Knight (Henryville, IN), who both made it to their postseason in their respective states.
“The mix of new and old should allow for some healthy competition and ultimately give us a very talented and dynamic squad to take to matches,” Gray said. “With a mix of a little bit of luck and hard work we hope to be in the position to win the region tournament and ultimately get back to Nationals.”
The Lady Warriors open their season on Wednesday, Sept. 8, against John A. Logan College at the Kokopeli Golf Course in Marion.
Original source can be found here.
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