BILLINGS, Mont. – A team tournament victory proved to be the high point for the Montana State University Billings women's golf team during the 2018-19 season.
 
The Yellowjackets won the Saint Martin's University Invitational on October 5-6 at Olympia Golf & Country Club in Olympia, Washington, with a two-round team score of 640 (329-311). Overall MSUB wound up fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, with a team scoring average of 324.9 strokes per round.
 
"The women's team had a quality season highlighted by winning the Saint Martin's event in the fall season," said head coach Jeff Allen, who completed his first spring in charge of the women's program. "Even though we had two seniors on the team, we were still a young team because we relied very heavily on two freshmen and two sophomores to play well. We will really miss the leadership and consistency of Shealyn and Sarah next year, but I am very encouraged because the returning players all have quality tournament experience. We will be a young team with no seniors, but a very quality team."
 
Second-team all-GNAC selection Shealyn Hafer led the Yellowjackets the entire year, posting her best collegiate season as a senior. Hafer's season scoring average of 79.65 strokes per round ranked No. 9 in the GNAC, and was the ninth-best single-season scoring average in program history. The senior competed in all 20 rounds and 10 events in her final season, and posted four top-10 finishes including one top-five finish.  

Hafer twice matched her personal collegiate best with single-round scores of 73, at the Warrior Vegas Invite on March 12 and at the Western New Mexico University Invitational on April 5. Each of those performances earned Hafer the GNAC Player of the Week award. Her two-round total of 151 at the WNMU Invite went down as her collegiate best, and was tied for the ninth-best two-round score in MSUB history.
 
Hafer fueled MSUB's victory at the SMU Invitational, as she took second place among the field of 41 golfers with a two-round score of 156 (79-77). Her other top-10 finishes came at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational on September 10-11 at Lake Hills Golf Club (6th), at the Rocky Mountain College Fall Invitational on October 1-2 at Peter Yegen Golf Club (7th), and at the Warrior Vegas Invite (T8th).
 
In addition to earning all-conference for the third straight year, Hafer was also a three-time academic all-GNAC selection. She was voted as the MSUB Female Athlete of the Year at the 2019 Buzzies. "Shealyn had a very strong finish to her career," Allen commented on her two collegiate best single-round scores coming in her final four events. "She made it a goal to have her best year as a senior, and she put in a lot of work on her game to perform the way she did. She had multiple career-best rounds and was consistently the top finisher for our team. She was great as a player, but even more so as a leader. Her teammates all looked up to her for her experience, and she was the heart and soul of our team. Shealyn will certainly be missed both on and off the golf course."
 
MSUB's other senior this season was Sarah Schroefel, who ranked fifth on the squad with a scoring average of 84.25 strokes per round. Schroefel played in all 20 rounds for the team, and had three top-10 finishes in her final collegiate season. Like Hafer, Schroefel saved her best season for last as she had personal bests both with a single-round score of 75 at the Warrior Invite on March 12 and with a two-round total of 158 at the GNAC Championships on April 22-23.
 
Schroefel took ninth place at the RMC tournament, with a two-round score of 159 (81-78). She finished her season with two of her best single-round scores over her final four events, including a tie for eighth place at the Warrior Invite on March 12-13 with a 170 (75-95). Schroefel was also MSUB's top finisher at the GNAC Championships, taking 10th place with a two-round score of 158 (81-77). Schroefel was also one of MSUB's four academic all-conference picks.
 
"I was really excited that Sarah finished the season strong," Allen said. "She is such a hard worker in practice, workouts, and in school, and she really leads by example. She will certainly be missed on and off the course, but I am excited to see everything that she will accomplish in her future."
 
Posting a breakthrough campaign was sophomore Renae Heisler, who emerged into one of the team's most reliable scorers during her second year in the program. Heisler ranked second on the team with 81.85 strokes per round, which was the 25th-best single-round average in school history. Heisler competed in all 20 rounds, and had a pair of top-10 finishes. 

The best tournament of Heisler's career thus far was the WNMU Invite, where she had career lows of 153 over two rounds including a single-round mark of 74. Her best finish in the standings came at the SMU Invite, where she tied for eighth place with a two-round total of 165 (88-77). "Renae took a huge step this season in reaching her potential," Allen said. "She is one of the more physically talented golfers I have seen. She continues to learn more about how to manage her game and play to her strengths. Renae works hard on her wedge game and short game, and as those continue to improve she will really show what she is capable of on the golf course."
 
The Yellowjackets relied heavily on a pair of true freshmen during the season, as Tierney Messmer and Kinsey Irvin each had an impactful debut collegiate season. Messmer ranked third on the team in scoring with 82.39 strokes per round, while Irvin was close behind in fourth at 83.20 strokes per round.
 
Messmer competed in 18 of 20 rounds, and posted three top-10 finishes including a top-five performance. Her single-round best of 74 came at the RMC Fall Invite on October 2, where she tied for ninth overall with a two-round score of 159 (85-74). The Sidney native started her college career with a bang, tying for third in her first-ever event at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational on September 10-11 at Lake Hills Golf Club with a 157 (79-78). Messmer was one of just four players among the field of 31 to break 80 in each round at the event, and her two-round total was her best of the year.
 
Irvin played in all 20 rounds in her first year as a Yellowjacket, and had a pair of top-10 finishes to highlight her season. Irvin's best tournament was at the WNMU Fall Invitational, where she had season bests of 77 in a single round and 159 over two rounds. She took fourth place at the Saint Martin's Invite, with a season-best two-round score of 159 (77-82).
 
"Tierney and Kinsey did a very nice job this season as true freshmen," Allen said. "It is a huge change coming from high school golf straight into Division II. The courses are longer and tougher, and a lot of times we are playing at or near sea level. Getting used to those changes takes some time. We really relied on these two throughout the year, and I was happy with how they responded. They have been two of the most talented players in Montana over the last few years, and I really look forward to what they can take from their experience this year to really help them get better."
 
Sophomore Sydney Rochford showed tremendous improvement in her second season, shaving off more than five full strokes from her scoring average as a true freshman in 2017-18. Rochford competed in a dozen rounds for the 'Jackets in 2018-19, and posted a scoring average of 88.5 strokes per round.
 
Rochford reached her personal best single-round mark of 82 at the RMC Fall Invite on October 1, after hitting her two-round best of 169 at the Yellowjacket Fall Invite on September 10-11. Rochford was also an academic all-conference pick. "Sydney had some very solid rounds this year, and gained a lot of quality tournament experience," Allen said on the second-year player. "She has really worked hard since she came to MSUB, and will continue to get more comfortable with her game. She had a great finish last summer in the women's state-am, and I look forward to her having another solid summer of golf leading into the fall season."
 
Also competing for the Yellowjackets during the season were sophomore Kylee Knobloch and freshman Jalen Wagner, who each played in four rounds. Wagner had a scoring average of 91.75, and Knobloch posted a mark of 95.5 while earning academic all-GNAC recognition.
 
"Jalen has made some huge improvements in her game since joining our program," Allen commented on the true freshman. "She is a hard worker and will continue to get better this summer. She will be a key member of our team next fall and I expect her to really become a solid player for us. Kylee was such a great teammate and carried one of the best attitudes you could possibly have. She is a very motivated young lady and will move on to do great things as an educator in her community."
 
Hafer's two rounds of 73 tied for the eighth-best single-round scores in school history. MSUB's best single-round score of the year was a 306 at the Warrior Invite, which tied for the sixth-lowest score in school history. The team also had a 307 at the RMC Fall Invite, and its season-best two-round total of 632 at that event was good for the 16th-best in program history. MSUB's team scoring average of 324.85 was the fifth-best team mark in MSUB history. The Yellowjackets placed fifth among six teams at the GNAC Championships, with a two-round score of 652 (334-318).