June 15, 2021
Sometime before her junior golf season, Natalie Lansing realized she had big shoes to fill. Her older sister, Olivia, had graduated two years earlier after dominating the class A girl’s golf scene and was playing collegiately for Drake University. Filling those shoes meant Lansing had to make good on some lofty goals of her own. MPA had never won a section team championship in girl’s golf and she was out to change that.
Over the next two seasons, she did just that, equaling even the grandest accomplishments of her older sister and leading MPA’s girl’s golf team to back to back state championships in 2008 and 2009.
But it wasn’t easy, especially early on in her MPA golf career. “In the beginning, we didn’t have much to celebrate,” notes Lansing.
By the time she was a junior however, she was rolling. She led the team to its first section 4A championship in May 2008, and then in June, at Pebble Creek Golf Club in Becker, she led the Panthers to a dominating first place finish at the class A girl’s golf state championship, also winning the individual state championship by an extraordinary eight strokes.
Along the way, Lansing was quick to credit teammates and her coach, Greg Lundgren, for her success. “We loved our coach,” Lansing said. “He was so supportive. Even when we had a bad round, he didn’t get mad or put pressure on us. He told us that one bad round couldn’t hurt us if we stayed focused.”
She went on to lead the Panthers to a second consecutive class A girl’s golf state championship in her senior season, winning the team title by a dominant 78 strokes. “Winning the team state golf tournament my senior year was a moment I’ll never forget,” says Lansing.
Along the way, Lansing earned 14 varsity letters across her three sports, soccer, basketball and golf. She was a captain in soccer and golf and earned seven Tri Metro all-conference honors. Lansing won the 2009 MPA Athena Award, given to the top female athlete in the senior class, a culmination of her outstanding athletic success and leadership.
Looking back on her time at MPA, Lansing remembers fondly the feeling of being part of a team. “MPA athletics taught me what it means to be a part of a team. This not only helped prepare me for college athletics, but also prepared me for life,” she says. “Playing on a team each season continuously challenged me to balance the rigors of my schoolwork with the demands of my practice schedule.”
Lansing continued her golf career at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. At MPA, she was member of the National Honor Society with a 3.75 GPA, and she chose Lehigh because of its strong academic tradition in addition to its NCAA division I athletics. “I chose to attend Lehigh because of its highly respected undergraduate business program, that, combined with its welcoming atmosphere, provided me with a great educational experience,” notes Lansing.
Playing for the Mountain Hawks, Lansing led Lehigh at several tournaments, placing as high as 19th at the Sunshine Spring Classic. She was named team captain as a senior.
Lansing graduated from Lehigh with a degree in marketing and an entrepreneurship minor in 2013. She is now the Director of Marketing for Charlotte Tilbury Beauty in New York City.
