Lady Cougars Bring Home Second Straight WSC Championship

College of the Canyons women's golf group photo from WSC Championships on Oct. 30, 2023.
November 1, 2023

By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information 

BAKERSFIELD — College of the Canyons was the victor of a Western State Conference (WSC) title for the second time in as many years, after taking the top spot at the two-day championship tourney at Rio Bravo Country Club Oct. 29-30.

The group of Motoko Shimoji, Flora Peugnet, Brooke Maxwell, Nisha Gaulke and Elena Ortuno-Montalban worked for a two-day, four-player score of 679 (341/338). 

Moorpark College took second (703-351/352) with Bakersfield College two strokes behind in third (705-347/358). Santa Barbara City College settled in fourth (744-369/375) with Antelope Valley (379-395/397), Allan Hancock College (820-408/412) and Citrus College (868-430/438) following.  

Shimoji tied for third in the event's individual standings with her score of 155 (77/78). That finish placed Shimoji runner-up in the season's individual standings and also netted her a spot on the All-WSC Team for the second straight year. 

Peugnet was close behind that mark in fifth place (166-87/79). She finishes the regular season fifth in the conference standings to also earn her second All-WSC accolade.

Maxwell finished the day tied for 12th with her score of 178 (88/90). Gaulke came to the clubhouse with a score of 180 (89/91) in 16th place.  

Ortuno-Montalban rounded out the event in a tie for the 18th position at 185 (93/92), though her score was dropped from the final team tally.

The conference championship was the program's 12th (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023) under head coach Gary Peterson, who was named WSC Coach of the Year.

The Lady Cougars will next tee off at the two-day 3C2A Southern California Championships beginning Sunday, Nov. 5 at Simi Hills Golf Course. Tee time is scheduled for 9 a.m. on both days. 

Canyons is making its 19th appearance at the SoCal Championships.

The top four teams from the SoCal Regional will advance to the 3C2A State Championships being played Nov. 12-13 at Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles. 

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.