CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – The Cortland women's golf team won its second straight Northeast Women's Golf Conference (NWGC) Championship and sixth in seven years, and sophomore Gina Milazzo (Greenwood Lake/Warwick Valley) earned conference medalist honors, at the two-day conference championship held Sunday and Monday at the Van Patten Golf Club.

As the NWGC champion, Cortland has qualified for an NCAA automatic berth and will compete at the national championship tournament May 19-22 at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif. The Red Dragons earned the program's fourth NCAA Division III championship berth in the past five years.

Cortland finished with a two-day score of 678, posting a 345 in the first round and a season-best 333 in the second round. Cortland trailed St. John Fisher by one stroke after the opening 18 holes before steadily pulling away during the second round for the convincing victory. The start of the tournament was delayed on Sunday due to weather, with the golfers able to play nine holes. The competitors completed the first round on Monday morning, followed by the entire second round.

St. John Fisher was tournament runner-up with a 705 (344-361), followed by Geneseo (368-362-730), Nazareth (388-371-759), Utica (406-394-800), Albertus Magnus (396-418-814) and Cobleskill (418-420-838) in the seven-team field.

Milazzo won the individual crown in a field of 35 golfers with a two-day score of 160 on the par-72 course. She was tournament runner-up as a freshman last year. Milazzo had a 43 on the front nine Sunday, but rebounded Monday morning for a 39 on the back nine, including six pars, to finish with an 82. She followed that with a 78, highlighted by 12 pars, in the second round. She finished three strokes ahead of both Emma Sweazy of St. John Fisher (82-81-163) and Bethany Wineburg of Nazareth (83-80-183), who tied for second place.

Junior Pia Aguilar (Santiago, Chile/Colegio Highlands) finished in fourth place with a two-round score of 165, six strokes better than her previous career best. She opened with an 84 in the first round, followed by a career-best 81 in the second round. Aguilar tied for eighth place in the conference last season. Senior Kara Dumas (Jefferson/Gilboa-Conesville) tied for fifth place with a two-day score of 173. She opened with a 91, and her second-round score of 82 is one stroke shy of matching her career best. Dumas tied for 14th place last season.

Junior Mimi Rienzo (Stewartsville, NJ/Phillipsburg) finished in 16th place with a final score of 193. She was Cortland's fourth scorer in the opening round with an 88 and had a 95 in the second round. Rienzo tied for ninth place in 2024 and was 19th last year. Sophomore Steffi Trombley (Plattsburgh) tied for 20th place with a two-round total of 192. Her 92 in the second round counted as Cortland's fourth score. Trombley is competing for the first time this season.

Milazzo was named NWGC Player of the Year by virtue of her league crown, and Milazzo, Aguilar and Dumas each earned first team all-conference honors. The top five golfers in the standings are named to the first team and the sixth through 10th-place finishers are on the all-conference second team.

In all, Cortland Women's Golf has now won eight league titles - six in the NWGC (fall of 2019 and spring of 2021, spring of 2022 and spring of 2023 and spring of 2025, in addition to this year), along with Empire 8 crowns in 2017 and 2018, before that league disbanded. (Cortland also won an ECAC title in the fall of 2015 before officially joining a conference.)

NORTHEAST WOMEN'S GOLF CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP (April 19-20, 2026)
Van Patten Golf Club; Clifton Park, N.Y.
(par 72 each day)

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

Place, School                    Day 1 - Day 2 - Total Score
1) Cortland                        345-333-678
2) St. John Fisher             344-361-705
3) Geneseo                        368-362-730
4) Nazareth                        388-371-759
5) Utica                               406-394-800
6) Albertus Magnus          396-418-814
7) Cobleskill                       418-420-838
 
INDIVIDUAL SCORES (TOP 10)
(top 10 are all-conference; places 1-5 are first team, places 6-10 are second team)

Place, Name (School)                                        Day 1 - Day 2 - Total
1) Gina Milazzo (Cortland)                                82-78-160
tie 2) Emma Sweazy (St. John Fisher)            82-81-163
tie 2) Bethany Wineburg (Nazareth)                83-80-163
4) Pia Aguilar (Cortland)                                   84-81-165
tie 5) Kara Dumas (Cortland)                           91-82-173
tie 5) Avery Smith (Geneseo)                           90-83-173

7) Gabriella Dellacroce (Albertus Magnus)   90-87-177
tie 8) * Megan Kristofak (Mt. St. Mary)          90-88-178
tie 8) Jillian Draper (Geneseo)                         91-87-178
10) Bella O'Rourke (St. John Fisher)               85-94-179

Other Cortland:
16) Mimi Rienzo (Cortland)                               88-95-183
tie 20) Steffi Trombley (Cortland)                    100-92-192

* individual entry

(35 golfers competed)