Seven Sooners, three Cowgirls on Academic All-Big 12 team
Photo: OU senior Ana Ruiz and OSU’s Kenzie Niesen.
Seven members of the Oklahoma women’s golf team and three Oklahoma State Cowgirls have been named to the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 Golf Team, the conference announced Tuesday. Oklahoma’s seven selections are tied with Kansas for the most in the conference, marking OU’s second straight season of leading the conference in Academic All-Big 12 honorees.
While freshmen are not eligible to receive the honor in their first year of academic residence, all seven of OU’s non-freshmen met the academic and participation requirements.
“I’m very proud of our team for everything they’ve accomplished both in the classroom and on the golf course,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell. “The emphasis they have put into their academics and golf game captures what it means to be elite student-athletes.”
Junior Karen Arimoto, senior Ana Ruiz, junior Julienne Soo, senior Valerie Tanguay and redshirt freshman Sydney Youngblood were all named to the first team. Additionally, seniors Rylee Pedigo and Hannah Wood were named to the second team.
Tanguay, an accounting major, has been named to the first team for three consecutive years. Soo, also an accounting major, earned first team honors for the second straight season.
First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA while the second team selections hold a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 20 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
Oklahoma State’s Kenzie Neisen, Chih-Min Chen and Alexis Sadeghy were named to the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 Women’s Golf team, which marks seven straight years with multiple selections for the Cowgirls.
Since the league formed in 1996-97, Cowgirls golfers have combined for 57 Academic All-Big 12 selections, including 15 in the last five years.
Neisen (Nutritional Sciences/Allied Health) and Chen (Sports Management) both earned first-team honors and were among a select group of just six Big 12 golfers nominated with a perfect 4.0 GPA. This marks the third straight first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection for Neisen, and the second straight for Chen.
Sadeghy (Nutritional Sciences/Human Nutrition/Pre-Med) was named to the second team Academic All-Big 12 after a first-team selection in 2017.
In all, 38 golfers from across the conference earned first or second team honors. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA while the second team selections hold a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 20 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence.
The Cowgirls will compete for their 10th Big 12 Championship this weekend in Dallas, which is more than the other nine current members of the league combined.
The Sooners open postseason play this weekend at the 2018 Big 12 Championship in Dallas, Texas. The three-day tournament begins Friday at the Dallas Athletic Club.