Conference

Somerset, NJ - Long Island senior Natalie Desjardins (Haileybury, Ontario) concluded her Blackbird career on a high note as she was voted the 2009 NEC Women's Golfer of the Year. In a year that featured four individual titles for the Haileybury, Ontario native, Desjardins' most recent memorable outing was a second-place performance at the NEC Championship Tournament at Hershey Links in Hershey, PA. Just one of two golfers to shoot a round under par, Desjardins carded a 54-hole total of 224 (77-76-71) en route to bringing home the individual runner up trophy. Earlier in the season, Desjardins earned medalist honors at the FDU Invitational, Mount St. Mary's Fall Invitational, Lonnie Barton Invitational and the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational, while she also recorded an additional four top-10 finishes and placed among the top-25 in each event this past season. An unprecedented six-time NEC Golfer of the Week during her senior campaign, Desjardins boasts a league-low 76.86 stroke average per round. A decorated golfer, Desjardins has won at least one tournament in each of her four years at LIU.

Sacred Heart's Carly Bergin's (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) successful debut season resulted in NEC Women's Golf Rookie of the Year distinction. Bergin, who possesses a 82.10 stroke average per round, captured the first medalist honor of her young career at the Sacred Heart Fall Classic on Oct. 26-27. The newcomer entered the tournament on the heels of a second-place finish at the FDU Invitational and was tied for the lead after a first-round 79, as she followed with the low round of day two, carding a 75 on the par 72, 5,917-yard Great River Golf Club course. At the league event on Apr. 24-26, the Binghamton, NY product tied for 13th by shooting 84-78-80=242, marking the second-best score among newcomers. Bergin, who also took a spot on the NEC Women's Golf All-Conference Second Team, earned a trio of top-10 performances this past season.

Joining Desjardins on the All-Conference First Team is a trio of athletes from Fairleigh Dickinson, including Michele Holzwarth (Berlin, Germany), Eva Mayr (Schwendi, Germany) and Lisa Warrilow (Gnossal, Staffordshi, UK), while SHU senior Jennifer Tierney (Danbury, CT/Danbury) rounded out the squad of five. Holzwarth, who recently bested the field of 49 at the Conference tournament with a 223 (74-72-77), averaged a single-round score of 78.20 throughout the year. The sophomore's performance at Hershey Links helped the Knights capture their second straight team title, while her two-day total of 146 ranks first on the league's all-time 36-hole championship performance list. Holzwarth also placed among the top-20 in each of FDU's nine events this year. Mayr capped off her junior season - a campaign in which she was the recipient of two NEC Golfer of the Week awards - with a third-place finish at the NEC tournament. Mayr entered the championship on the heels of an individual title (71-79=150) at the Roar-EE Invitational, hosted by Columbia on Apr. 18-19 and used that momentum fire a round of 73 bookended by 77s to accumulate a 227 at the league event. Right behind Mayr was teammate Warrilow, who took home fourth place by virtue of a 228 (76-78-74). During the spring season, Warrilow bested a field of 33 golfers with a two-round 154 (81-73) to bring home the individual title at the 4th Annual Monmouth Hawk Invitational on Mar. 28-29, an event in which the Knights also won the team crown. Warrilow heads into her junior campaign maintaining a 79.40 stroke average.

Representing the Pioneers, Tierney came away from the NEC tournament tied for the 10th slot with a 238 (82-80-76). Tierney's performance marked the senior's sixth top-10 outing this season and helped to lower her stroke average to 81.10. The Danbury, CT product Tierney picked up her first top-five finish of 2008-09 at the Rutgers Invitational on Oct. 11 by firing matching rounds of 77 to come home tied for fifth overall. The event featured a field of 91 golfers from 16 institutions, as Tierney bested all league participants from the five NEC schools that competed.

Rounding out the SHU all-conference contingent and joining Bergin as a second team honoree is senior Joanne Martorana (Randolph, NJ/Randolph). Martorana and her 81.10 stroke average earned a share of fifth place at the NEC championship, garnering all-tournament honors. The Randolph, NJ native carded a pair of 78s and a third-round 76 to total 232 on the par 72, 5,899-yard course in Hershey, PA. As the Pioneers hosted its Fall Classic, Martorana recorded a third-place finish with a score of 158 (76-82) after 36-holes.

Completing the all-conference second team are CCSU's Deb Kim (Shelburne, Ontario), RMU's Melanie Ice (Beaver Falls, PA/Riverside) and SFPA's Caryn Doege (Monroeville, PA/Gateway). Kim's 238 (80-81-77) at the conference championship earned a share of 10th place, while Ice claimed the seventh slot by means of a 236 (77-81-78). Boasting a 79.85 average per round this season, Doege shot 82-77-81=240 to take 12th after three days of navigating Hershey Links. Only a sophomore, Doege earned three top-20 finishes during the 2008-09 season, including a 16th-place standing at the Mount St. Mary's Fall Invitational and a 17th-place slot at the Tina Barrett Intercollegiate, hosted by Longwood in March.