At the beginning of the 2002 season, the Northwestern women’s golf team set a goal that didn’t seem out of reach. The Wildcats, who began that season No. 16 in the nation, wanted to win the Big Ten and qualify for the NCAA tournament.
After a strong start, NU slipped down the rankings and quietly settled for a seventh-place showing at the conference tournament.
This year, without its top two players from 2002, the team has started off slowly. At the Central District Classic on March 24-25, NU coach Chris Regenberg had hoped the Cats would finish in the top half, but instead NU placed 13th of 15 teams.
But don’t cry for the Cats just yet.
On a team dominated by sisters — there are two pairs on the seven-woman squad — Lauren and Mary Ellen Grzebien have stepped up recently and may be just what NU needs to propel itself back into the national scene.
Lauren, a junior, has been a supporting figure in the squad since her freshman year, consistently finishing in the top five. Sophomore Mary Ellen has been improving, leading her team for the first time at the 36-hole Verizon “Mo”Morial Tournament this week with a 13-over 157, good for 28th.
Her impressive performance was a small step in the right direction after a less than stellar fall season.
“How I played this fall wasn’t how I was used to playing,” she said. “Every part of my game is coming back to what it used to be.”
And while the Grzebien sisters are setting the standard, the rest of the Cats aren’t far behind.
NU returns four starters from last year, including the elder Grzebien, seniors Elizabeth Burden and Erin Breslin, and sophomore Ina Kim. Despite the loss of three-time All-Big Ten selection Emily Gilley to graduation and junior Hana Kim’s transfer to UCLA, the team is confident that it will improve on last year’s season.
“We want to start coming in the top three again in tournaments because we know we are capable of that — and winning a tournament or two along the way,” Lauren said.
While one Kim sister left Evanston for sunnier skies, a Breslin sister came to replace her and restore the sibling ratio. Sophomore Kerri Breslin joined her sister at NU from Rollins College in Florida. Although she hasn’t made the starting roster yet, she finished 54th at the Lady Northern Invitational this fall — her best showing this year.
The unrelated members of the team, rounded out by junior Stephanie Cranston — a former NU swimmer — have held their own.
Burden has led the team in four out of six tournaments this year, moving into the top spot that Gilley vacated. Kim has played consistently since her arrival at NU and continues to place in the top five for NU.
But the key to NU’s success this season will be playing well as a team at each tournament.
“One of us will have a good tournament,” Mary Ellen Grzebien said. “But as a team, all five of us can shoot low scores and its a matter of us all working to our potential, instead of one or two.”
