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PALM COAST. Fla. — A pair of former local high school golfers helped the Bethel University women’s golf team win back-to-back national championships.

The Pilots captured its second straight National Christian College Athletic Association Women’s Championship on Wednesday as it cruised to a 44-stroke victory at the Hammock Beach Ocean Course, thanks in part to Niles’ Aynslee Myer and Dowagiac’s Greta Whitaker.

Unlike their 2022 championship, the Pilots pulled away from runner-up Grace College (Indiana) over the course of the three-day tournament. Last year, Bethel won by nine strokes, 956-965.

The Pilots shot 316 on the opening day of the tournament, Monday, and followed that up with a 319 on Tuesday and a 316 on Wednesday for a total of 951

Grace College (Indiana) was second with a 995, Paine College (Georgia) finished second with a 995, while Southwestern Christian was fourth (1,038), Judson University fifth (1,076) and Oakland City University (1,092).

Myer and Whitaker  both placed in the top 20 for the Pilots.

Myer finished 11th overall after shooting a three-day total of 251. She had rounds of 88, 85 and 78. Whitaker finished with a score of 262 to tie for 18th. She had rounds of 85, 86 and 91.

Bethel grabbed the top three individual spots as Maria Pardo Victori was the individual national champion as she shot 230. Selah Unwin finished second with a 236 and Taeyon Kwon was third with a 237.