INDIANAPOLIS – Teams are starting to put the postseason in the crosshairs as regional rankings were released prior to new Great Midwest Athletic Conference Golf Athletes of the Week were announced Wednesday.
 
The conference championships are coming soon to Lexington, Ky., and the University Club of Kentucky. Both men’s and women’s events will be played on the Big Blue Course. The women’s tournament will be conducted March 16-17 and the men’s event will follow on the 19th and 20th.
 
The NCAA Division II Region Rankings included a handful of Great Midwest schools, including the “Under Consideration” tagging on the men’s side. In that list is Findlay, Hillsdale and Trevecca Nazarene, in the Midwest Region. The East Region is where the women’s teams are categorized and with 11 institutions ranked, Findlay is No. 2 and Tiffin is close behind at No. 5.
 
Men’s Athlete of the Week
Brandon Jatich
Walsh
Freshman
Canton, OH (GlenOak HS)
 
Jatich was even-keeled and consistent as the top conference finisher at the Cav Classic hosted by Walsh at the Glenmoor Country Club.
 
The freshman fired a 54-hole total of 212 to finish runner-up individually and post a tournament total of 4-under par.
 
Jatich fired rounds of 71-70-71 to help guide Walsh to a team title with a four-stroke margin of victory over Malone. The Cavaliers finished first in the field of nine teams with rounds of 286-292-290 that resulted in 4-over par.
 
Jatich was only one stroke off the winning pace of Ferris State’s Thomas Hursey, who carded a three-round score of 211.
 
Women’s Athlete of the Week
Isabelle Castro
Walsh
Junior
San Jose, CA
 
Castro went into the NC4K Classic among the conference’s top 10 scoring leaders and maintained that pace with the league’s top finish at a tourney hosted by Ohio Dominican.
 
Castro finished tied for fifth at Jefferson Country Club with rounds of even par 72 and 79 (+7). She was the clubhouse leader at the end of the first 18 holes and her 36-hole total of 151 (+7) was only four stroke shy of the medalist pace.
 
Walsh would go on to place in the top half of the field with UIndy and Findlay taking the top two team spots in the standings.
 
It represented Castro’s fifth top-10 finish of the 2020-21 season and her second top 5 placing this year as well.