The Lady Rams golf team finished second at the Sooner Athletic Conference championship.

 Sophomore exercise science major Jaci Trotter said the team wanted to be a challenge for the Oklahoma City University Stars, who ended up winning the tournament, which was held in Oklahoma City in late April.

 “There was so much drive and motivation in each and every one of us during this tournament,” she said. “Our goal [for this tournament] was to give Oklahoma City [University] a run for their money.”

The Lady Rams did just that, finishing only 15 strokes behind the Stars, according to ramsports.net. The win marked Oklahoma City’s sixth conference win.

The Lady Rams’ Alex Schies, a junior business finance major, won the tournament on the way to being named the conference’s player of the year for the third year in a row.

Trotter said that the Lady Rams had a rough start to the season but they knew they had great potential.

“We improved at every tournament and ended up placing second in conference,” Trotter said.

Sophomore business marketing major Elena Romero said that the Lady Rams accomplished their most important goal of the season, which was to make it to nationals.

“Also, we said we wanted to be ranked top ten if possible and we’re currently ranked ninth so hopefully we’ll get that as well,” Romero said.

Romero said that at this tournament the teamwork was better than ever.

“We stayed together and supported each other in the ups and downs,” Romero said. “That makes the team stronger, and I believe a strong team is the bases for a strong result.”

“We’re happy we’re making it to nationals,” Romero said, “but I think we still have a lot we can improve on as a team and individually.”

Romero said that the Lady Rams will now be getting ready for the 2017 NAIA National Championship, which will be taking place in Florida later this month.

Schies said that the team’s third and second place finishes at their last two tournaments helped them go into the SAC tournament with a positive attitude. She said that she wasn’t sure that she was going to get the award for player of the year this year.

“I wasn’t playing the way I was hoping to and how I had played the two previous years,” Schies said, “but I was determined to at least try to have a few good tournaments at the end to give myself a chance. [Being named SAC Player of the Year] feels really good.”

Schies said that she set a high bar for herself.

“My goal is to play well at nationals, finish this year with possibly first team all-American again, then go into next year with a goal of getting [player of the year] and first team all-American for a fourth time,” Schies said.

Schies thanked both her family and all her coaches.

As far as the conference championship goes, Schies said the Lady Rams played well as a team.

“And we have a chance at doing well at nationals,” Schies said.

The team will host the 4^th Annual Lady Rams Golf Classic at Rolling Hills Country Club in Arlington on Monday. Registration and sponsorship details are available at ramsports.net.