A FANTASTIC FINISH

Gonzaga women’s golfer Cassie Kim capped off her collegiate career with one of her best outings of the season, carding a 69 (-3) in the final round of the NCAA Pullman Regional. The Zag senior ended in a tie for 32nd at even-par (216) at Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Kim was the first Zag chosen for the NCAA Regionals since 2017.

Kim climbed 15 spots on the leaderboard on the final day, the second-biggest jump in the 66-golfer field. After opening the tournament with a 73, and a 74 on Tuesday, she played a bogey-free round on the final day. The Yakima, Wash., native made 39 pars in the tournament, which was the fourth-most in the field, and was even-par on the course’s five Par-3 holes.

Kim finished the season with a team-best 73.17 average round score, which ranks third all-time in program history. She had a 74.73 career round average in 91 rounds, which ranks fourth all-time at GU. She had five of her 10 Top-10 finishes this season, two of her four Top-5 finishes were also in 2022-23. Kim earned co-medalist honors at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Oct. 26 and was named the WCC co-Golfer of the Month in March. She matched the team’s low round of the season at 67 (-5) in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

Following the season, Kim was named Academic All-District selected by College Sports Communicators. The CSC honor recognizes the nation’s top studentathletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. Kim boasted a 3.75 grade point average, majoring in Biochemistry. She was a twotime Academic All-West Coast Conference selection, along with a two-time All-WCC selection for her efforts on the course.

Quynn Duong earned Academic AllConference honors for the fourth straight season. She had a 3.78 grade point average and graduated with a business administration degree, while Kim boasted a 3.75 grade point average, majoring in Biochemistry. Duong was a three-time All-WCC selection for her efforts on the course, and Kim earned that honor twice.

Duong is second all-time at Gonzaga with a 73.77 career scoring average, while her 72.85 average in 2018-19 is the lowest in program history. She finished her career with 15 Top-10 finishes, including 10 in the Top-5. The San Jose, Calif., native, had a 74.85 scoring average this past season.

Grace Lee was named the 2022-23 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year the league and joined Kim on the AllWCC Team. Lee placed fifth at the WCC Championships and became the first Zag to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors since Duong in 2019.

Lee had her best round of the WCC Championships on the third day, carding a 71 (-1) in the final round. She rose two spots on the leaderboard with four birdies and 11 pars in Round 3. It was the freshman’s first Top-5 finish of the season, and second in the Top-10. Lee’s 37 pars in the tournament were the fourth-most in the 25-golfer field. She had back-to-back rounds of 73 (+1) in the first and second rounds. The Bellevue, Wash., native, finished one-over in the tournament with a 217 total.

Gonzaga won the Pat Lesser-Harbottle SeattleU Invitational tournament title at the Tacoma Country Club on Oct. 4. The Bulldogs were led by sixth-place finishes from Kim and Chaewon Baek. Both Zags were one-over (217) in the tournament.

Grace Lee WCC Freshman of the Year

Women’s rowing achieved an amazing accomplishment this year as the team won its eighth straight West Coast Conference Championship and its 21st overall. The title gave Gonzaga an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships for the ninth time in program history.

The Bulldogs dominated the competition at the conference regatta, taking first in almost every race and finishing the day with 42 team points, tying the school record.

“It was a strong effort by all to represent our entire program!” head coach Andrew Derrick said. “We are proud to represent the WCC at the National Championship!”

The WCC also gave out honors at the end of the regatta. Andrew Derrick won the WCC Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Grace Dojan was also named the WCC Rower of the Year as Sailor Hawes was crowned the WCC Coxswain of the year for the second time in her career.

Four Zags were tabbed to the All-WCC First Team including, Hannah Cooney, Grace Dojan, Camille Ruhlin-Hicks and Perrine Sarraute.

In the Varsity 8 race, the Zags took first with a time of 6:38.492 as San Diego was behind them with a time of 6:42.937. The Bulldogs won the 2V8 race by finishing in 6:45.51 as LMU placed second with 6:52.918. In the 1V4 competition, Gonzaga won by nine seconds with 7:31.386. LMU placed second with 7:40.781. GU also competed in the 2V4 race and placed third with a 7:45.683 finishing time. LMU placed first with 7:39.842.

The Zags then went on to compete at the NCAA Championships in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The team championship was composed of 22 teams. Eleven conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining eleven slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the championship field. Teams qualifying for the NCAA Championships are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.

After three straight days of racing, the Zags took 19th overall as a team. The team recorded 25 points to secure a top 20 finish after their third-straight day of racing.

The 1V8 boat finished the season by winning their heat in the D Finals. Going against Navy, George Washington and Jacksonville, the Bulldogs came out on top with a finishing time of 6:42.849, edging Navy by less than a second to finish 19th overall. Gonzaga won their heat in the 2V8 race as well in the D Finals with a time of 7:06.387. The Zags competed against Northeastern, Jacksonville and Navy to win the race by four seconds and place 19th. The 1V4 crew was the only boat to compete in the C Finals and finished fifth with a time of 8:01.297. GU went against Indiana, Penn, Rutgers, Southern California and Syracuse to take 18th overall.

“I am very proud of the effort these women put in this year,” Derrick said. “I think we accomplished a lot and left some things on the table we will look to happen next year. Of course, it will be tough without this year’s seniors, but the program is strong and heading in the right direction.”