FORT SMITH, Ark. – At the 2025 Great American Conference Championships,
Freya Sala took home the individual title after winning on the second playoff hole against Henderson State's Felisa Sajulga and the Lady Dawgs finished fourth place as a team.
No. 25 Henderson State took home the team title for the fifth straight tournament, winning by a wide margin of 26 strokes at +48. Harding came in second with a score of +74, while Arkansas Tech rounded out the top three at +81.
Sala ended both day one and two at the top of the leaderboard, but early in the final round, she knew it would be a dogfight, as she went +5 through the opening nine holes and found herself in third place going into the final stretch. Calmly, she then turned it around and birdied the 10th and 15th holes to propel her back into the lead going into the final three holes. A birdie by Sajulga on 17 would tie it up and force extra golf to determine the champion. After both golfers parred the opening playoff hole, a slip-up by Sajulga would have Sala end as the champion, as Sajulga bogeyed hole 17 and allowed Sala to capture her first GAC Championship.
Last year, Sala finished T-2 at the championships, but this year she will be coming home with the prized hardware. She shot an impressive 71-73-73 while accumulating nine total birdies, which tied for the most of any player. She shared the best score on par-5 holes and had a two-stroke lead on all par-3 holes over the week. This is Sala's fifth top three finish of the year and her second win, with both wins coming via playoff holes.
Sala joins Elin Wahlin (2017) as SWOSU women's golfers to win medalist honors at the conference tournament.
Drew Dodgion secured her third top 10 finish of the year after shooting 76-77-74 over the three rounds. Dodgion increased the number of birdies to her name in each round, with her final round having three birdies in a four-hole stretch.
Ashlyn Acosta and
London Wilson each had low rounds of 78, with Acosta's coming in the opening round, while Wilson performed best in the middle 18. Acosta had her tournament highlighted by two birdies. Wilson marked down a birdie each round, but her opening round was tainted by six double bogeys.
The Lady Bulldogs were rounded out by
Lucia Rivas, who had a shaky opening round +16 (86), but she improved her score each round and ended the week with a +10 (80).
SWOSU was ranked No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Central Region rankings and will await the final selections by the NCAA for the upcoming regional tournament, set to be announced Monday, April 28. The tournament will commence May 5-7 in Edmond, Oklahoma this year at Kickingbird Golf Course.
2025 Great American Conference Championships
Monday-Wednesday, April 21-23
Fort Smith, Ark. (Hardscrabble CC)
Complete Results (pdf)
