DADE CITY, Fla. — The nationally 5th ranked Anderson University women's golf team picked up their first team title of the year while senior Claudia Hastings (Liverpool, England) notched her first medalist honor with the Trojans at the 2025 Saint Leo Invitational.
The Black and Gold topped the field by 20 strokes, finishing six-under go the week as a team. Florida Southern finished second in the event at +14 while Barry rounded out the top-3 at +18. Hastings led wire-to-wire individually as she carded at -7 tournament, three stroke ahead of the nearest competitor and one of just three student-athletes to finish under par for the event.
"I am so proud of the entire team this week down in Tampa! This was a complete team effort to dominate this way in an elite field," commented director of golf Denton Moore. "The effort was without a doubt led by Senior Claudia Hastings, but it took all 5 of them to get this job done, and to win by that many!
This field, like it always is in Florida, was very elite. Every team there was in the top 25 except for one. It's always hard to go down there on their turf and get a win. The golf course was set up extremely tough, in particular today. Yesterday the entire team was close to perfect. Today they just played extremely smart, and grinded like I haven't seen in a while. The golf course is long, it was wet, and the pins were set up for a tour event today it felt like."
Sophomore Olivia Pellerin (Greenville, S.C.) was one of the other three to finish under par on the week as she notched a third-place finish at -1 for the week.
Senior Aly Francis (Stockbridge, Ga.) and senior Kennedy Gooding (Lexington, S.C.) were able to crack the top-10 on the individual leader board for the week, finishing four and five-over on the week, respectively. Freshman Olivia Roberts (Chesnee, S.C.) finished just behind them in 16th.
"Claudia Hastings has been such a great addition to our team. This week she was perfect. She was one of only 3 players in the field to shoot under par. She did it in every single round. I am so proud of her, and I am so excited she is a Trojan now! Olivia Pellerin is one of the hottest players in the country, and she backed her win up last week with another high level top 3 finish. Aly, KG, and Olivia Roberts all had huge rounds throughout the tournament to help seal the deal. Again, this was a complete team effort."
Sophomore Peyton O'Brien (Salem, S.C.) and senior Paige Paolucci (Blythewood, S.C.) competed individually for the Trojans this week, finishing 40th and 49th.
"I haven't talked about it much, and I should have been talking about it all season, but it has been fantastic having Kennedy McGaha out there with us coaching. She has been fantastic with the girls, and in particular this week with Claudia. She was there a lot with Claudia, and walked her into that victory the last three holes. She was the GOAT here as a player, and she is doing fantastic now as a coach. We couldn't have done it this week or any week without her!"
"We are going to celebrate for a day, and then get right back to work to get ready for our home event at Currahee which will be one of the best fields in the country. I can't wait to get back to work with the girls, and go chase another win. Go Trojans!"
The Trojans round out their fall schedule with their first hosted event of the year at the 2025 Ralph Hayes Toyota D2 Elite Invitational at the Currahee Club next week, October 27-28.
