MCC women’s golf team earns 16th consecutive ACCAC victory
The Mesa Community College women’s golf team has won 16 consecutive Arizona Community College Athletic Conference events after their latest win at the South Mountain Fall Invitational on Sept. 20.
Even though the 16 straight ACCAC event wins is impressive, it is still nowhere close to the current record of 83 straight ACCAC event victories, set by none other than the MCC Thunderbirds.
That streak stretched from 2007-2019, where the team would even win events by more than 80 strokes.
Sophomore Presley Pickron won medal honors for the ladies as she shot 75 in the first round and 68 in the second, for a total of 143 strokes, one under par for the course.
It was not just a one woman show as Abby Schmidt placed fourth while shooting 74 in round one and 75 in round two, for a total of 149. Teammate Jolie Guyette also finished with scores of 79 and 77 for her two rounds, totaling 156.
The team placed first, with second place South Mountain Community College 17 shots behind.
Last year, the team was led by Alyzzah Vakasioula, who has since moved on from the program.
Vakasiuola was extremely dominant during her time with the Thunderbirds, as she finished 2nd in the NJCAA DI Championships last season. She also holds the lowest season scoring average in MCC history at 71.69, and set the school’s record of lowest round score when she shot a 66 at the South Mountain Invitational in February earlier this year.
With her not on the team this season, the Thunderbirds knew they would have to collectively play better to continue their dominance.
“It’s more of a team effort, the last two years we knew if I put up a bad score or someone else didn’t have a good day we have Alyzzah, we know she’s going to come through no matter what,” said Schmidt, “Without her, it’s going to take more work from the team, we’re going to need one or two of us to come through.”
The streak speaks volumes about the dominance the program has displayed since Coach John Guerrero came to MCC in 2001.
Since he has taken over, the team has won the ACCAC Championship every year but two, not including the canceled season due to COVID-19.
As for Guerrero, he has been named the ACCAC Coach of the Year 18 times since 2001.
Players that are on the team are grateful to have such a good coach in Guerrero as they also understand how amazing of a program he runs at MCC.
“Coach Guerrero is one of the best coaches if not the best coaches that I’ve ever had. I think back to 2020 when I was being recruited, and meeting him it was like, okay this is the school I want to go to… I think it shows a lot that his program is definitely a good one and that it’s going to stay good for a while,” said Schmidt.
The team just competed in the RJGA Shootout and placed 13th.
The competition hosted 15 schools that were mainly comprised of four year or NAIA schools.
The team will have a long break before their next competition, which will take place on Oct. 31 at the Redhawk Rumble being played at the Las Sendas Golf Club in Mesa.
