Cortland repeats as NWGC Champion
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – The Cortland women's golf team won its second straight Northeast Women's Golf Conference (NWGC) Championship and sixth in seven years, and sophomore Gina Milazzo earned conference medalist honors, at the two-day conference championship held Sunday and Monday at the Van Patten Golf Club.
As the NWGC champion, Cortland has qualified for an NCAA automatic berth and will compete at the national championship tournament May 19-22 at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif. The Red Dragons earned the program's fourth NCAA Division III championship berth in the past five years.
Cortland finished with a two-day score of 678, posting a 345 in the first round and a season-best 333 in the second round. Cortland trailed St. John Fisher by one stroke after the opening 18 holes before steadily pulling away during the second round for the convincing victory.
The two-day, 36-hole championship was held at the Van Patten Golf Club in Clifton Park, N.Y. on its Red and White Course. Each round was a Par 72 and covered 5,600 yards.
Albertus Magnus junior Molly Martin was selected as the NWGC Elite Academic Award winner given to the golfer with the highest cumulative grade point average who is at least a sophomore. She boasts a 3.96 cumulative GPA while majoring in psychology in child development.
The start of the tournament was delayed on Sunday due to weather, with the golfers able to play nine holes. The competitors completed the first round on Monday morning, followed by the entire second round.
St. John Fisher was tournament runner-up with a 705 (344-361), followed by Geneseo (368-362-730), Nazareth (388-371-759), Utica (406-394-800), Albertus Magnus (396-418-814) and Cobleskill (418-420-838) in the seven-team field.
Milazzo won the individual crown and was named the NWGC Player of the Year in a field of 35 golfers with a two-day score of 160 on the par-72 course. She was tournament runner-up as a freshman last year.
She finished three strokes ahead of both Emma Sweazy of St. John Fisher (82-81-163) and Bethany Wineburg of Nazareth (83-80-183), who tied for second place. Sweazy had the best finish among first-year golfers and was named the NWGC Rookie of the Year.
Cortland's Pia Aguilar finished in fourth place with a two-round score of 165, while Geneseo's Avery Smith (90-83-173) and Cortland's Kara Dumas (91-82-173) tied for fifth.
The Top 5 finishers are names All-Conference First Team in the NWGC, while those athletes finishing 6-10 are named Second Team. With a tie at first place, six golfers earned First Team in 2026 with four landing on the Second Team.
Gabriella Dellacroce (90-87-177) of Albertus Magnus placed seventh in leading the Falcons to their debut in the NWGC. She earned All-NWGC Second Team honors.
Mt. St. Mary's Megan Kristofak (90-88-178) and Geneseo's Jillian Draper (91-87-178) tied for eighth, while St. John Fisher's Bella O'Rourke (85-94-179) rounded out the Top 10 with a 10th-place finish.