By Jacob Norling
April 28, 2021
 
(SURPRISE, Ariz.) In their second season of program history, Westmont's Men and Women's golf team concluded their first GSAC Championship Tournament on Wednesday. The Warriors were met with mixed results in Surprise, but nonetheless felt a great deal of accomplishment after a long and grueling year.
 
"The chance to compete in a conference championship was great," said head coach Tom Knecht. "It's always the goal to compete in your league, so just getting to be out here was special.
 
"I thought we had some jitters with this being our first time on this stage, but these players now know what to expect next year. I think their level of improvement from year one to year two is unbelievable, and now their level improvement in year three, with most of them being upperclassmen, is going to be phenomenal"
 
Mason Mancasola had the best finish for the men's team, shooting an 81 on day three to finish in 23rd place. Mancasola shot a 77 and a 78 on the first two days, but ran into trouble on the back nine today, including a double-bogey on his final hole.
 
Trevor White shared similar struggles with Mancasola, as after White shot a 76 on day one, he added six strokes in each of the final two rounds, completing day three in 88 shots. White finished the competition in 29th place.
 
White was quick to be optimistic about the week still, saying, "It was a lot of fun. I had a great time representing Westmont at the conference championship, and obviously I wish I could have done a tad better but I got a first taste at it here and have a couple more years to get after it.
 
"It was a season full of resilience, so to get to see the team rally together and get to bond was awesome. Getting to be out here on this course, and not back in Santa Barbara thinking about finals for a couple days was really nice."
 
Tom Ridd had the best improvement for the men's team on day three after shooting an 81 and an 86 on days one and two. Ridd trimmed eight strokes off his previous day's total as he collected par seven times and shot his tournament-best 78. Ridd's final round propelled him past White, as finished one stroke better to put him in 28th place.
 
Hunter Shumake also improved on day three after shooting 86 on consecutive days. Shumake trimmed four shots off his previous two days and finished the course in 82 strokes to cap off his sophomore campaign.
 
For the women, the biggest bummer of the afternoon was when Kat Bevill rolled an ankle on the fifteenth hole, and could not complete the rest of her round. Bevill, who was in seventh place at the beginning of the day, shot an 86 and an 80 during the first two rounds.
 
Drew Thompson and Mia Jimenez stayed neck and neck the whole weekend, and after a final round of 93 by Thompson and a 96 by Jimenez, the two finished the tournament tied in 22nd place (282).
 
Autumn Jon Bier enjoyed a pleasant Wednesday as well after shooting an even 100 on day one followed by a 107 on day two. Jon Bier cut twelve strokes off her second day total, and finished the day shooting her tournament-best 95.
 
Although the Warriors didn't experience championship success during their first conference tournament, coach Knecht looked positively towards the future, saying, "You start with Kat, Mason, and Trevor and you have three phenomenal golfers.
 
"Then Drew and Mia get better it seems like every week, and Autumn has trimmed like thirty shots in the last year. Tom has gotten better consistently and Hunter is super steady too. I think there's reason to be excited about the team that's coming back."