The Women's Golf Team has enjoyed quite a year of competition in 2009-2010, with many individual and team accomplishments to celebrate. None is greater than the latest accolade given to the team by the conference -- being named the 2009-2010 Appalachian Athletic Conference Champions of Character.  

The Lady Cavaliers are the third team from Montreat to earn this distinguished award this year -- the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams, led by Head Coach Jose Larios, also accepted the team award earlier this season.  It is a mark of the philosophy and commitment of the Athletic Department, as well as the leadership of Head Golf Coach Dave Pennell, and finally of the individual commitments of the Cavalier athletes, that the ladies were chosen for this award.

Sponsored by the Champions of Character, a nonprofit organization that works with athletic organizations including the NAIA, the award is given to teams that exemplify the Champions of Character mission "to replace the current cycle of cheating, trash talking, taunting and out of control behaviors found in today's sports culture with integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership."

This accomplishment, combined with their third Conference Runner-Up finish in the last four years, continues to distinguish the Cavs competition on the local fairways.

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.