Photo of UMHB golfer Sarah Kmiecik courtesy of the UMHB Athletics Department/cruathletics.com
BELTON–The UMHB women’s golf team will be represented in the NCAA Division III tournament field when play begins on May 21 in Nicholasville, Kentucky, as Sarah Kmiecik was selected as an individual qualifier on Monday afternoon.
The senior was one of six individual qualifiers (student-athletes whose team will not be playing in the national championships, but whose individual achievements warranted selection) added to the tournament field when selections were announced by the NCAA, joining Syndey Kuo (WashU), Carter Sichol (Carleton), Becky Williams (DePauw), Erin Donovan (Piedmont), and Emily Brubaker (Lynchburg).
Kmiecik, who will continue her college golf career at Division II Harding University next season, led The Cru through all nine tournaments during the 2023-24 season. A Houston native, she won the individual titles at the Space City Classic on Feb. 26-27 and the Battle for Brownwood on April 13-14, and averaged a score of 74.10 through 20 rounds this season. At the ASC Championships in Brownwood, she placed second, carding back-to-back 73s over the final two rounds of the 54-hole tournament. Following the conference championships, Kmiecik was named a First-Team All-ASC honoree for the fourth consecutive year.
This will be Kmiecik’s second consecutive appearance at NCAAs, as she placed 22nd in the field last May after winning the ASC individual title. She shot a 237, finishing at 18-over 255, while also ranking second in the tournament in birdies, with eight.
2024 is the sixth straight year in which the Crusader women’s golf program has had at least one representative at the national championships, as the program continues to add to a legacy of producing championship-caliber players. This year’s NCAA D-III Tournament runs from May 21-14 at Keene Run (Keene Trace Golf Club) and will be hosted by Transylvania University.
