Mark Wagner
Special to ICT
When the Manhattan Jaspers women’s golf team took top honors at The Evann Parker Memorial in October, the win was a first for the first-year program. There were some other firsts, as well.
Sophomore Maddison Long, Coeur D’Alene/Navajo, and first-year standout Peyton Beans Factor, Chickasaw, were among the first Native American women to complement a Division 1 collegiate program.
Both were on the tee sheet for The Parker Memorial hosted by Mercyhurst University. Both played key roles.
Factor put together a near-perfect back nine, featuring eight pars in her final nine. Long opened her final round with a pair of birdies to extend the exceptional start for the Jaspers.
“Maddison and Beans both brought a lot of passion, sense of responsibility and pride in this program from the moment they arrived,” Jaspers Coach Keith Prokop told ICT.
Senior Nawel Ben Letaief, who played in the #1 spot, also noticed.
“I am very happy to have won with this young team,” Ben Letaief said. “They are ambitious, but above all, very talented.”
Prokop told ICT that the two young players view the game in different ways — Long absorbing everything, and Factor taking the problems head-on. But they have one thing in common, he noted.
“If they both have a putt, we know it won’t be left short,” he said.
A team takes shape
In addition to Long and Factor, the Jaspers 8 include Isabella Encinas, from Mexico; Ben Latief, from France; Edie Nicholson, Alberta, Canada; Jayden Peters, California; Gianna Zinke, Nevada; and Arianna Steele, New York.
And while the team gelled in its first Fall season, Long and Factor are not strangers to one another. They first met at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championships, run by the acclaimed Navajo professional golfer. Their friendship, as well as communication between their families, grew from there.
They both cite the NB3 Foundation, founded by Begay, as instrumental in their development as athletes. Their progression to collegiate golf is not without challenges, however.
“Collegiate golf is a lot more challenging,” Long told ICT. “You’re balancing ambitions for your future career while also managing your present goals.”
Long arrived at Manhattan University in The Bronx in New York with a 4.0 GPA and a tournament win after her first year at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She took Manhattan as a transfer sophomore.
Factor came in as a first-year student, after helping Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, win a state championship last spring – her third championship ring.
Off to a good start
Prokop reflected on how his eight Lady Jaspers battled in their inaugural year, citing Long and Factor as “two extremely coachable athletes that have a lot of fight and adaptability out on the golf course.”
“I couldn’t imagine starting this program any other way,” Prokop said.
That focus on adaptation will come in handy for Long and Factor, who are both new to Big City life.
“The big city life is great,” Long said recently. “You have to have a lot of discipline to balance your lifestyle.”
Factor agrees, saying she relishes the idea of being a role model for Native women.
Ending on a ‘high note’
Although no one knows what the future holds, or if Long and Factor will join the pro ranks as their NB3 colleague Aidan Thomas has done, they have certainly made their mark – two of the nation’s First People helped lead the Jaspers to their first victory.
But first things first: Both Kristi Daniels Long and Sara Factor report their daughters will be home for Christmas.
“Maddison is loving the Big Apple,” Daniels Long told ICT, “but she’ll be home for Christmas. Her sister [Olivia, also a talented golfer] will be glad to see her for sure.”
Sara Factor said that Beans is one of two Jaspers with more than one Top 10 finish in the team’s first year.
“Beans ended on a high note,” Sara Factor said. “And now that the season is over, she’s had the chance to take in the sights . . .. She did get a little homesick, but seems to be completely over that now. LOL. And she does get to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we are all excited to see her.”
Long is also excited about seeing her family, though adds, “I love the city and the atmosphere here. I do wish to spend at least one Christmas in New York.”
Taking in the holidays will be a well-deserved break as the Jaspers prepare for a busy spring season, which opens when the Jaspers travel for the Le Moyne Spring Invite in March in Orlando, Florida.