In Ina Kim’s career at Northwestern, the Big Ten championships have not been friendly for the Wildcats.

The team’s best finish in her three previous years at NU was third place in 2001, but it was bookended by two seventh-place finishes.

As the senior plays her last conference championships, coach Chris Regenberg said she hopes the team’s confidence and momentum will reverse past fortunes and lead NU to its first Big Ten team title in school history.

The Cats open up the Big Ten championships Friday at the U-M Golf Course in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“We have a good feeling,” Regenberg said. “All the players know we have a realistic shot to win the tournament. We have to show up, bring our ‘A’ games and get it done.”

NU heads into the postseason with three-straight finishes of sixth place or better, including a tournament win at the Mountain View Collegiate on March 27.

The Cats are seeded fifth in the 11-team field, but Regenberg said she thinks this is her team’s best shot to win the title in the past four years. And she said this year’s championships are the first in several years that more than two teams have a legitimate shot at winning.

Ohio State, ranked 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index, is the top seed this weekend and three-time defending champion. But Michigan beat the Buckeyes in the Lady Northern Invitational, which was played at Michigan in September.

Michigan State and Iowa also are strong contenders, after coming off strong performances last weekend in the Lady Buckeye Invitational.

In the battle for the individual title, Kim said she and sophomore Alice Kim have a definite shot to win.

Alice Kim is coming off her best performance of the season, finishing third place at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Ina Kim has three top-20 finishes this spring, including a runner-up finish at the Mountain View Collegiate.

But Regenberg said the Cats are going to need more than two strong individual performances. The depth of the team — freshmen Katie Trachok and Brittany Johnston and sophomores Kelly Robb and Heather Scholten — needs to show for NU to make a run at the team title.

And there is another benefit of a strong team performance this weekend: a bid in the NCAA Central Regional championships.

“Things are looking bright for us in terms of getting into the regional championships,” Regenberg said. “But it’s always nice to get that confirmation phone call the Monday after the Big Ten championships.”

But this weekend the focus is on the chase for the conference title and to avenge past performances in the championships.

“We definitely have a vendetta about the Big Tens,” Regenberg said. “So we all want a good finish.”

Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].