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Making History: Chelsea Carroll Becomes First Woman Head Coach to Lead a Men's Team to a National Title
Posted: Jun 09, 2022

Making History: Chelsea Carroll Becomes First Woman Head Coach to Lead a Men's Team to a National Title

PHOENIX ---

South Mountain Community College men's golf head coach Chelsea Carroll made history in 2022 when she became the first woman to lead a men's team to an NJCAA National Championship as the Cougars captured the 2022 NJCAA DII Title. She received the 2022 Dave Williams NJCAA National Coach of the Year honors for her efforts. 

SMCC Athletics has confirmed with the NJCAA that they consider her the first woman in its history to lead a men's team to a National Championship in any division. Her achievement came weeks before the 50th anniversary (June 23, 1972) of the passage of Title IX legislation. 

The Carroll File (Men's Team)

  • Carroll led the SMCC men's and women's golf teams in the 2021-22 season
  • She took over the SMCC men's team on an interim basis after the previous head coach left for head coaching job at UTEP
  • SMCC won the NJCAA Division II National Championship at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club in Joplin, Mo., May 17-20.
  • SMCC finished at +31 to defeat Mississippi Gulf Coast CC and Tyler Junior College by 19 strokes.
  • The title was the eighth National Championship in the history of the SMCC men's golf program.
  • Sophomore Cecil Belisle won his second-straight National Championship.
  • He claimed Individual Medalist honors by finishing at even-par over the 72 holes to defeat his nearest rival by three strokes.
  • Belisle won the 2022 NJCAA Jack Nicklaus Award and received the recognition at The 2022 Memorial Tournament.
  • Belisle will continue his intercollegiate career at the University of Kansas in the 2022 fall.
  • Freshman Ethan Klose earned NJCAA First Team All-American honors with a sixth-place finish at NJCAA National Championships.
  • Sophomore Sean Markham and Belisle earned PING First Team All-American honors, and Klose received Second Team honors.
  • SMCC won seven times over the spring before their trip to Missouri.
  • The Cougars carded a one-under, 283 at the Region I Division II Championships.

The Carroll File (Women's Team)

SMCC Men's Golf and Coach Carroll in the News