Montreat College's women's golf team has waged a running battle with the squads from Union College and Tennessee Wesleyan College all spring, and those three Appalachian Athletic Conference rivals joined three other teams in the Women's Direct Qualifier for the NAIA National Championship Golf Tournament on Monday-Tuesday, April 26-27 at Heatherhurst Brae Golf Course in Crossville, Tennessee.

After play finished on Tuesday morning, Thomas University of Thomasville, Georgia claimed the team and individual titles and will send its team to the NAIA Championships in South Dakota in late May. 

Montreat College finished fourth among the six teams and was led by Ashley Mitcham from Waynesville, N.C., a senior who shot an 85-85-170 that earned her the third-highest finish by any golfer from the AAC, trailing only Natalie Foster of Tennessee Wesleyan, the AAC Player of the Year, who fired a 161, and Ashley Buxton of Union, who posted a 163.

Mitcham led the Cavaliers and played her way onto the Direct Qualifier All-Tournament Team in leading the Cavaliers.  

Head Coach David Pennell, who pilots both the Men's and Women's golf programs at Montreat College, pointed out that in the four seasons Montreat has fielded a women's team, the Cavaliers have claimed one conference title and finished second three times.

But this tournament belonged to Thomas University as the Night Hawks shot a team score of 676 over two rounds to edge out Ohio Dominican's 678, with Thomas' freshman Jessica Macphee claiming the individual title with a 78-80-158 total over 36 holes.

Pennell's club was conference runner-up in both the regular season and the AAC Tournament, and he knows he'll have some work to do for the Cavaliers to maintain their lofty status among the AAC elite.  In addition to Mitcham, Aimee Turner of China Grove, N.C. will also graduate and Pennell will look to build his team around rising senior Caitlin Dempsey from Branford, Florida and current freshman Martha Turpin of Sylva, N.C.