Morganton, N.C. – Junior Elizabeth Lohbauer collected individual medalist honors on Tuesday to pace a trio of Catamounts inside the Top Five in helping Western Carolina successfully defend its team title at the 2024 Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate which concluded at the par-72, 6,130-yard Mimosa Hills Golf Club.
 
Carding the only tournament single-round score in the 60s Tuesday, Lohbauer was joined inside the Top Five by sophomore teammates Sadler Miller and Brie Mapanao. Miller posted her career-best finish in a two-way tie for second place with a score of 222, with classmate Mapanao finishing tied with one other for fourth place at 224.
 
Western Carolina edged fellow Southern Conference foe Wofford by two strokes 897-to-899, repeating as the event champion for a second-straight season. The Catamounts were 37 strokes up on third place – and tournament host Appalachian State (934) – with North Carolina A&T (940) in fourth place. Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian tied for fifth with matching scores of 942 with SoCon-foe The Citadel rounding out the seven-team field.
 
Tuesday's team championship marked the seventh event win for the Catamount women's golf team over the past three seasons – and its second of the 2023-24 campaign, the first in stroke play.

Lohbauer carded a blemish-free final round on Tuesday, tallying 15 pars and a trio of birdies to shoot 3-under par 69 in closing the tournament at 2-over par 218. The Venice, Fla., product paced the field in par 4 scoring at 1-over par (4.03), and thanks to her 15 scores in regulation on Tuesday, she led the tournament field with 40 total pars over the two-day event.
 
Opening on the par-5 third, Miller started her day with a birdie before carding a pair of bogeys to hit the back nine at 1-over par. After a double-bogey on the par-4 11th relegated her to 3-over for the day, the Clayton, N.C., native posted back-to-back birdies on holes No. 12 and 13 before adding a fourth birdie on the par-4 18th to go along with six pars to shoot even-par, 72, for a two day total of 222.
 
Miller carded the tournament-low score of 1-under par (2.92) in par-3 scoring while also pacing WCU with eight birdies – tied for fourth in the tournament field. She added 35 pars over the 54-hole event, tied for third in the 45-golfer field.
 
Mapanao slid one spot in the standings into a two-way tie for fourth, posting a final-round 2-over par 74 for a total of 224. The Australian-born striker had an up-and-down round, countering five bogeys with three birdies including one on her 54th hole that helped WCU pull ahead of Wofford in the final team standings.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were redshirt junior Kayleigh Baker in a two-way tie for 16th at 234 and fifth-year senior Victoria Ladd in a two-way tie for 23rd with matching scores of 237. Baker added two more birdies to give her five for the event, countering seven bogeys on Tuesday. Ladd likewise tallied a pair of birdies to give her seven over the 54-hole tournament, matching teammates Lohbauer and Mapanao.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, junior Kaitlyn Wingnean finished tied for 29th in the field with a two-day tally of 241, posting a trio of birdies including one in each round.
 
Western Carolina now looks to carry this week's momentum into the 2024 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship which returns to the Moss Creek Golf Club on Hilton Head Island, S.C., April 14-16. WCU looks to additionally build upon last year's third-place showing on the same course.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
 
 
1 – Western Carolina – 304 – 299 – 294 = 897 (+33)
1 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 72 – 77 – 69 = 218 (+2)
T2 – Sadler Miller – 79 – 71 – 72 = 222 (+6)
T4 – Brie Mapanao – 76 – 74 – 74 = 224 (+8)
T16 – Kayleigh Baker – 77 – 77 – 80 = 234 (+18)
T23 – Victoria Ladd – 81 – 77 – 79 = 237 (+21)
T29 – Kaitlyn Wingnean (ind.) – 79 – 78 – 84 = 241 (+25)