Black Hills State University Athletics

2024-25 (Freshman): Played in six of the nine events with a 85.5 per round stroke average…Her stroke average was the lowest of a freshman in the RMAC era for BHSU…Shot a career-low 78 (+6) in round two of her first tournament at the Swan Memorial which put her in a tie for 10th in the RMAC era for 18-hole round…She shot her a 169 (+25) at that tournament…She had two top 15 finishes back-to-back when she finished 11th at the Black Hills State Classic with a 36-hole score of 170 (+26) and 10th at the Marauder’s Tournament…She had her lowest 36-hole score when she shot a 161 (+17) at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational where she shot 82 (+10) and 79 (+7) which gave her a third straight top 20 finish when she finished 16th…Swanson led the team at the RMAC Championships this year when she finished 38th with a 54-hole score of 248 (+32)…That finish put her third in BHSU history of 54-hole scores…She shot 161 (+17) over the final two days of the tournament including being the only BHSU player to break 80 at the RMACs with a 79 (+7) in round two.

Prep: Swanson attended Northfield High School, where she played varsity golf all four years of her high school career…In her time at Northfield, Swanson earned First Team All-Conference accolades through all four years and Second Team All-State in her four seasons…The five-foot-eight sophomore played at the First Tee Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach with PGA Tour Pro Estaban Toledo…In her prior three years, Swanson has made and played in all State Championship tournaments and is a two-time league MVP, which she earned in consecutive seasons…During her junior season, Swanson recorded a career-best round score of 68 (-4) while she won the JGAC series championship in her freshman campaign… Ranked 175th out of her class of 350, Swanson, a member of Academic High Honors at Northfield High, held an unweighted 3.4 GPA…Makaela is the daughter of Kris and Beth Swanson and sister of Hunter Swanson…Her brother, Hunter, plays collegiate golf as a member of the University of Colorado – Boulder men's team.