By Mark Morales
Staff Reporter
On Jan. 27, the Sacred Heart University women’s golf team was mentioned in Golfweek magazine in their North East Conference (NEC) preview.
Golfweek talked about senior Ellen Nighbor and sophomore Chelsea Sedlar as the duo that can bring a championship back to Sacred Heart.
The Pioneers were ultimately chosen as Golfweek’s pick to win it all this year.
The women’s golf team had a great fall season and finished with a first place victory at the SHU Fall Classic at Great River Golf Club.
“We did have a great fall, Ellen won twice as an individual. We won our home event and we didn’t finish worse than fifth in any of the events that we competed in,” said head coach Matthew McGreevy.
After the fall season, the team is looking for more success long term.
“If we come out and play the way we could play, I think we can continue that strong play and I think we can further elevate the program to where we would like it to be as one of the top programs in the Northeast,” said McGreevy.
As for Nighbor, she was honored to be mentioned in Golfweek’s NEC preview with her teammate Sedlar, but her focus is on the team as a whole.
“It’s obviously really cool to be mentioned, but we’re kind of focused on the team overall. I know it takes more than two people to make a team,” said Nighbor.
The team has had their struggles, however, hard work has elevated the team’s success.
“We went through a rough patch a couple of years ago, but I think bringing Ellen and her class in and then building from there, we’ve been building toward this for a long time,” said McGreevy. “I think it’s nice to see that all the hard work that the kids put in is being recognized and hopefully we can carry it through the end this spring.”
Hard work is something McGreevy preaches.
“I think the schedule is going to be stronger in the spring. That shouldn’t affect our standings,” said McGreevy.
Looking forward to this upcoming season, the women’s golf team will have their challenges.
“I’m just excited. I know everyone’s put in a lot of hard work, we know the potential we have and we know that the conference championship is up for ours to take and that’s exciting,” said Nighbor.
The team opens up their spring season on March 6 and will look to capture the NEC championship away from defending champs, Fairleigh Dickinson University.
