PORTLAND, Ore. – It was the last dance, but what a dance it was.
Eight of the 10 UBC Thunderbirds who closed out their programs' fifth consecutive double Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship, and nine of the 12 who were brought to the event, were playing in their final conference tournament as T-Birds.
Fittingly, all nine graduating seniors were named to the CCC All-Conference teams in a Cascade Conference awards ceremony that quickly become a celebration of UBC.
Fourth-years
Elizabeth Labbe,
Grace Bell,
Una Chou and
Bo Brown received the honour, along with third-year
Jessica Ng.
On the men's side, first-year
Jake Houston joined seniors
Mackenzie Bickell,
John Paul Kahlert,
Hudson LaFayette,
Dylan MacDonald and
Aidan Schumer on the all-conference list, giving UBC half of the honourees across along teams.
In another poetic moment, MacDonald and Schumer were named co-CCC Player of the Year after posting the exact same scoring average of 70.17 on the conference season. It's the second straight year that MacDonald has shared the award with a teammate, after he and
Manu Gandhi won together in 2024.
While the 'Birds double victory appeared likely heading into the final day of the event, both teams were sharp in sealing their wins.
The T-Birds women (895, +19) doubled their 10-stroke lead going into the final day, finishing 20 shots ahead of runner-up Oregon Tech (915, +39).
Elizabeth Labbe was locked in an epic battle with 2025 CCC Player of the Year Quincy Beyrouty of Oregon Tech, with the two friends matching birdies as they pulled ahead of the rest of the field. Labbe ultimately maintained a narrow advantage over Beyrouty by the end of each round, carding a 71 (-2) in Wednesday's finale to finish at 212 (-7) and take the individual title by three strokes.
On an island behind the top two was
Una Chou (221, +2), whose steady play had her just out of contention for medalist, but seven strokes ahead of the rest of the field.
Jessica Ng (230, +11) took sixth and
Grace Bell (232, +13) tied for seventh to round out the UBC women who played all three days of the tournament.
The UBC men (851, -21) enjoyed a second straight strong round on Wednesday, firing a combined -10 to hold of a charging Lewis-Clark State team (871, -5) and take the championship tournament by 16 strokes.
Aidan Schumer (210, -9) followed up his record-tying 64 on Tuesday with another stellar round of 68 (-5) to win the individual title by four shots.
Among those tied for second was teammate
John Paul Kahlert (215, -5), followed closely by
Mackenzie Bickell (217, -5) tied for fifth,
Dylan MacDonald (220, +1) tied for eighth and
Jake Houston (221, +2) alone in tenth.
By conquering the CCC, the 'Birds earned automatic bids to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in May, which both teams won in 2023.
The cherry on top of a storybook day for the program was
Chris MacDonald being voted Cascade Conference Women's Golf Coach of the Year by his fellow head coaches, adding to his already bursting trophy case.
The music may be fading out for this special group of UBC golfers, but it's era that no one in the conference will soon forget.
