Katie Behnert wins 2015 USCAA Women's Championship

Katie Behnert tees off at the par three, fourth hole at the Penn State Blue Course.
Katie Behnert tees off at the par three, fourth hole at the Penn State Blue Course.
October 13, 2015

State College, Pa. - Freshman Katie Behnert (Montandon, Pa.) shot an 88 on Tuesday at the Penn State Blue Course to claim first place in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association women's division. Behnert chipped in for birdie on the par five fifth hole and hit a wonderful approach shot to within four feet of the cup on the ninth for an easy birdie to maintain her two shot lead over Kristy Haines of Penn State DuBois and capture the title.

Penn State Hazleton bounced back from a disappointing opening round, cutting 12 strokes off their team score from day one to finish in third place at the Penn State University Athletic Conference Championship. Working with a 22 shot cushion, Penn State Lehigh Valley secured their second straight PSUAC title with a two-day combined score of 670, followed by Penn State Wilkes-Barre at 682 and Hazleton's 698.

Sophomore Garrett Madison (Stroudsburg, Pa.) followed up his season-low round one performance with another solid outing to lead Hazleton scorers with a 12 over par round of 84. Sophomore Ty Morzilla (Berwick, Pa.) finished the tournament with his second consecutive round of 85, while senior Brandon Haydt (Hobbie, Pa.) rebounded from a disappointing first round to shoot 86 in his final competitive outing.

Madison's strong two-day performance earned him a third place finish individually in the PSUAC behind Austin Green (78, 70) of Penn State Mont Alto and Shane Rhodes (80, 84) of Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Cleary University earned a national championship title in the USCAA event, topping SUNY Delhi by seven strokes with a two-day total of 609. Cleary's Devin Young backed up his four under par score on day one with a plus one round of 73 on Tuesday, claiming the individual crown in the process.

Next up: The Nittany Lions will look to rebuild in the off-season as four Hazleton golfers end their playing days at the campus. Congratulations to Ty Morzilla and Garrett Madison, who move on to University Park in the fall of 2016 and to seniors Brandon Haydt and Gary Hunt (Berwick, Pa.) for their outstanding four-year careers.