Honors continue to mount after Indiana State finishes best season in four-year history
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
ST. LOUIS ? Three members of the Indiana State women's golf team were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete First Team, it was announced Monday by the league office. Sycamore seniors Breanne Smith and Mackenzie Mack were joined by sophomore Astrid Parsson in being selected to the First Team.
Smith, who was also a first team selection in 2009, has a 3.68 grade point average (GPA) while majoring in Elementary Education. The Canby, Ore., senior has also received three All-Conference recognitions in her four years as a Sycamore along with being named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete Team and the Sycamore Scholar-Athlete team for three straight years.
Mack was named to the 2010 Indiana State All-Academic Team in addition to the 2010 Scholar-Athlete team for the third straight year. The Las Vegas, Nev., senior has a 3.87 GPA while majoring in business marketing. She has also been named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete Team and the Sycamore Scholar-Athlete Team for three straight years.
Parsson, a sophomore from Malmo, Sweden, has a 4.00 GPA while majoring in Physical Education-Exercise Science. She was also named to the Sycamore Scholar-Athlete team this year.
A total of eight student-athletes earned first-team scholar-athlete honors, and five others earned honorable-mention status. Of those 13 student-athletes, eight also earned all-conference honors including State Farm MVC Tournament medalist and MVC Golfer of the Year Olivia Lansing of Drake.
Four student-athletes are repeat selections to the league's scholar-athlete unit. Laura Harris and Stacey Miller of Illinois State, Lansing, and Smith were all first-team scholar-athlete picks in 2009. Lansing and Miller were also first-team scholar-athlete selections in 2008.
This year's first team consists of Kelly Amundrud of Bradley, Harris, Britt Knutson and Miller of Illinois State; Mack, Parsson and Smith; and Lansing. Honorable-mention selections include Maggy Hejlek of Creighton; Alisha Matthews of Southern Illinois; Marisa Milligan of Illinois State; Breanne Neufeld of Bradley; and Elena Vukmir of Drake.
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for academic ESPN the Magazine All-America voting. Nominees must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale), while the student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institutions and must have participated in at least 50 percent of her team's rounds or played at the State Farm MVC Championship.
In addition to the eight first-team selections, an additional five student-athletes received honorable mention selection, by virtue of receiving a minimum number of votes. A total of 27 student-athletes were nominated for women's golf scholar-athlete honors. Golf sports information directors in the conference voted for the award.
Illinois State won the Missouri Valley Conference championship, April 18-20, in Newburgh, Ind.
