FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University women's golf team eyes its third straight Northeast Conference (NEC) Title this weekend as the Pioneers begin the three-day NEC Championship on Friday, April 19, at Callaway Resort Gardens & Golf. The event will be contested Friday-Sunday, April 19-21, at the Lake View Course in Pine Mountain, Ga. 

The Pioneers won last year's NEC Championship comfortably, topping second-place Delaware State by 10 strokes. SHU finished the 54-hole event at LPGA International with a combined score of 895 (+31), carding scores of 303, 297 and 295 throughout the tournament. 

Sacred Heart finished with the No. 1 and 2 golfers at the event, as Chantal El Chaib won medalist honors and Kailee Welch finished as runner-up. Maya Robilio (T19), Jessie Burch (T19) and Margot Rouquette (T21) all also finished in the top 21 at the championship. 

This year's tournament will be held at the Callaway Resort Gardens & Golf Lake View Course, a par-70 course with four sets of tees ranging from 4,473 to 6,158 yards. Lake View features water on nine holes, including five holes routed along scenic Mountain Creek Lake. The course's signature hole is the par-3 10th, which features an island tee and a serpentine bridge. 

The Pioneers have been playing great golf of late, tallying two wins and two runner-up finishes in the five events during their spring slate. The Pios topped the field at the SHU Spring Break Invitational and Prospect Bay Intercollegiate. 

Leading the way for the Pioneers has been 2023 NEC Golfer of the Year Chantal El Chaib. The senior claimed medalist honors twice this season and owned a team-best 74.0 average. Recently, she took the win at the Prospect Bay Intercollegiate, after carding a season-low 68 in round three and carded a season-low -4 for the tournament. 

Margot Rouquette and Kailee Welch have also been key to SHU's success this season. Rouquette won the team's first event of the year and has three second-place finishes. She owns a 74.6 average on the season over 26 rounds. Welch owns a win and two thirds over her graduate campaign. She has averaged 76.0 strokes over 29 rounds this year. 

Maya Robilio and Jessie Burch round out SHU's lineup at the NEC Championship. Robilio has finished in the top 10 twice this season, including tying for the win at the SHU Spring Break Invitational. Burch's best finish this year was a fourth at the SHU Fall Classic.