Sophomore women’s golfer Lena Gautier notched her highest finish of her Huskie career when she tied for first place out of 75 golfers Oct. 4-5 at the Diane Thomason Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa.

Gautier, of La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, was the first women’s golfer to win or share an event crown since former Huskie Kim Hunley notched a first-place finish at the 2009 Huskie Classic.

Northern Star: How was it breaking through and tying for first place so early on in your sophomore year?

Lena Gautier: That was like really nice. I was surprised I tied for first because I [thought] I was actually supposed to be second because they missed a hole from another person. So, when we came back from the course we didn’t know that I was winning, but it was really surprising and really enjoyable. … We worked a lot, and that was a good present after all the work.

NS: This marked the first time in your Huskies career that you won or tied for first; did you win any tournaments while you were in France?

LG: Oh, yeah, I actually won a lot of tournaments there. Three times I was the French champion in my category, and I had a lot of team winnings.

NS: You had a nice spring season, and with this win have put together a solid start to your second season as a Huskie. Did you work on anything in the offseason?

LG: Over the summer I did a lot of tournaments to practice, and I kept in touch with … coach [Kim Kester], like to talk about my strategy game. She helped me a lot after my tournaments, saying what I was doing wrong and what I was doing right.

NS: What’s the secret behind the success? Did you do something different during the Diane Thomason Invitational?

LG: We had three rounds, and we had 36 holes the first day, and that was really, really hard. The weather was really windy and cold, and I think I just maybe did a better job managing all my energy because it was hard for everyone. So, I guess I just did a little bit better than the others, and in the third round [the] coach just stayed with me on the course and helped me know what I had to do … . I think she helped me out a lot.