The end of the season is when most coaches get to sit down with their team and discuss what went right and what went wrong.

Over in ULM’s Golf House, Rachael Pollock, the head coach of women’s golf, is trying to address her team’s biggest problem at the end of the regular season, but her issue is a little different than those of other coaches right now.

She’s struggling to find room in the trophy case for her team’s Sun Belt Conference Championship trophy. The championship puts the capstone on top of a turnaround season after finishing No. 11 in the conference a year ago.

It’s the first in program history and one of just a handful across all ULM sports since the turn of the century. 

Senior Chantal Dueringer’s performance secured her team’s victory and placed her second overall in the tournament. After three rounds, ULM and Texas State each had a 16-over-par total of 880. It took two playoff holes to crown a new championship.

For Pollock, there was nobody she’d rather be in the position than “the best player in ULM golf history.”

Everyone knew that when Dueringer stepped up, her performance meant the difference between gold and silver. She credited her teammates for putting her in a position to win the championship in such a dramatic fashion.

“At the end of the day, if we all want to go win, we need to win as a team,” Dueringer said.

The Warhawks fought through stress, fierce competition and rain delays over the three-day tournament.

Championship in hand, the team met a warm welcome back to Monroe.

Coaches and players from other sports, faculty, staff and fans turned up in a crowd of over 100 people to welcome the first Sun Belt champions in ULM since 2017.

“Golf isn’t a sport where we don’t often get a lot of fans,” Pollock said. “So for the girls to have a welcome like that, it was really special.”

This historic team has the potential to add even more accolades.

The conference championship gives ULM a berth at regional. On Wednesday, the team will find out at which of the six regional sites they are competing and who they will compete against.  

According to the NCAA, the top five teams from each regional will advance to compete for a national championship. The top performer from a non-top five team also advances. 

The NCAA Regional will take place on May 8-10 in various locations across the country.