The NIU Huskies women’s golf program is a top tier competitor led by coach Kim Kester for the past 13 seasons.  Kester spoke at this week’s Rotary meeting.  She shared that her athletes have set records for lowest team scores, conference and invitational titles, and accolades for individual performances.  Besides standout shots on the links, the women Huskie golfers have been champions in the classroom as well.  Kestner says they are the second highest-ranked team academically with a 3.83 average.  She says her golfers generally receive an athletic and academic mix of scholarships.   She proudly pointed out that this year’s squad had a 100% graduation rate.  In her entire coaching career with NIU, Kester said she has only had one student fail to graduate and that was due to unique circumstances.

 

Kester, a Michigan native, learned to golf at a young age but also played multiple sports growing up.  Golf became her primary sport while in college at the University of Toledo.  While there she set school and conference records.  She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Toledo.  She came to NIU 2012 after serving as an assistant for the golf program at her alma mater.

 

Kester says her team recruiting heavily comes from Chicago and the Midwest, but includes interest from golfers nationally and internationally.  This includes players coming from France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Iceland.  She told the story of a French recruit who came to NIU several years ago during a winter polar vortex unprepared for the weather and with no winter coat.  However, Kester says the allure of playing top courses in Arizona, Georgia, and Florida apparently helped overcome the harsh weather and convince the student to pick Northern for her education.  She says it was a good fit because the student has stayed in the Chicago area pursuing her career after graduation.  Kester hopes to add to the caliber of courses played by golfers next year by including a trip to the Bahamas.

 

Kester says she expects the conference move for women’s golf from the MAC to the Horizon League will not bring any significant changes to their program.  Her plan is to establish NIU women’s golf as a powerhouse contender in the new league just like it has been in the old one.

April 21, 1926 – Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor is born in Mayfair, London, England.  As Queen Elizabeth II she will become Great Britain’s longest serving monarch.

 

April 22, 1451 – Isabella I of Castile, patron of explorer Christopher Columbus and initiator of the Spanish Inquisition with husband Ferdinand II, is born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Spain.

 

April 23, 1564 – Playwright William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.  He is often named the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist.  His works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and additional poems.

 

April 23, 1791 – 15^th U.S. President James Buchanan (serving 1857-1861) is born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania.  He held sympathetic views about slavery and fell out of political favor for trying to help the South gain Kansas as a slave state.  He opted not to seek reelection opening the way for Abraham Lincoln’s successful run for office.

April 21, 1904 – Controversial baseball legend Ty Cobb begins his career playing for the Augusta, Georgia team of the South Atlantic League.  He winds up in Detroit and spends 22 seasons with the Tigers setting 90 big league records, several of which he still holds.

 

April 22, 1970 – An estimated 20 million people turn out for locally-organized environmental educational events promoted by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson.  Nelson was trying to call attention to the inaction of Congress on environmental issues and inaugurated the very first “Earth Day”. 

 

April 26, 1954 – The Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia.  Children in the United States, Canada and Finland participated.  One year later, researchers announced the vaccine was safe and effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations.

 

April 26, 1994 – Multiracial elections were held for the first time in the history of South Africa.  Anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was elected President.