(SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 28)--William Woods University jumped out to a 17-stroke lead after round one and never looked back on its way to winning the 2009 American Midwest Conference Women's Golf Championship. The 36-hole event was held Monday and Tuesday at the Rail Golf Course in Springfield, Ill.

The Owls shot an opening-round 317 and cruised home in the final round with a 329 for a 36-hole score of 646. William Woods outdistanced the University of Illinois at Springfield, which was 55 strokes behind at 701. McKendree University took third place, followed by Missouri Baptist University. Hannibal-LaGrange was not able to complete its second round.

Individually, William Woods senior Ceanne Kressig was named the 2009 AMC Player of the Year after winning top honors at the AMC Championship. She fired a 76 on Monday and backed it up with a round of 81 on Tuesday for a total of 157. Kressig finished five strokes ahead of Owls' teammate Jada Bennington, who carded a 162 in Springfield. For her efforts, Bennington was named the 2009 AMC Freshman of the Year.

The 2009 AMC Newcomer of the Year award, which is given to the league's top transfer player, was presented to Tiffany Blumhorst of the University of Illinois at Springfield. Blumhorst grabbed sixth place at the event as she posted a score of 165.

For leading William Woods to the team title, Barry Doty was selected as the 2009 AMC Women's Golf Coach of the Year.

The 2009 AMC Women's Golf All-Conference Team is listed below. For complete results from the event, please click here.

2009 American Midwest Conference Women's Golf Tournament
TEAM RESULTS

1) William Woods 317-329--646
2) Illinois-Springfield 334-367--701
3) McKendree 352-357--709
4) Missouri Baptist 359-394--753
DNF) Hannibal-LaGrange 459-DNF

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
1) Ceanne Kressig, William Woods 76-81--159
2) Jada Bennington, William Woods 81-81--162
T-3) Char Cruchelow, William Woods 79-85--164
T-3) Amanda Purcell, WIlliam Woods 82-82--164
T-3) Jennifer Lotz, Missouri Baptist 83-81--164
6) Tiffany Blumhorst, Illinois-Springfield 81-84--165
7) Stephanie Bruemmer, William Woods 81-88--169
T-8) Brittany Kellerman, McKendree 83-91--174
T-8) Paige Luker, Illinois-Springfield 81-93--174
10) Renee Ryterski, McKendree 90-87--177