University of Minnesota Athletics
Four Gophers Named Academic All-Big Ten
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
The Big Ten Conference announced today that Gopher golfers Michele Edlin (Jackson, Minn.), Christine Herzog (Detroit Lakes, Minn.), Mary Narzisi (Omaha, Neb.) and Teresa Puga (A Coruña, Spain) are amongst a list of players named Academic All-Big Ten. This is the third consecutive season that Herzog has received the honor and the second consecutive for Edlin, Narzisi and Puga.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letter winners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.
Edlin, a Marketing major, finished this season with a 77.67 stroke average, third lowest on the team and also the 16th lowest in school history. She will head into her senior season with a career average of 79.70, the 12th lowest in program history. Edlin was in the Gophers' lineup in all 11 team tournaments this season and accumulated three top-20 and two top-10 finishes, including a tie for third finish at the Rio Verde Invitational in March.
A Pre-Business major, Herzog played in six of the Gophers' 11 tournaments in her final collegiate campaign. She will leave the program with a career stroke average of 80.5 in 69 rounds.
Narzisi, a Kinesiology major, was in the lineup for 10 of the team's 11 tournaments this season and finished with 78.61 stroke average. She will begin her senior campaign with 94 collegiate rounds under her belt and career average of 78.9, which is the ninth lowest in program history.
Puga, who is majoring in Business & Marketing Education, continues to prove that she is one of the best, if not the best, player to ever tee-it-up for the Maroon & Gold. She already holds the best career stroke average mark in the history of the program at 76.01 along with the programs finest fall (74.07 - 2008), spring (74.64 - 2010) and season (74.97 - 2009-10) averages.
Puga collected nine top-20 and seven top-seven finishes in 12 tournaments this season, including a tie for 12th place finish at the NCAA West Regional. It was Puga's first NCAA appearance and the first for a Gopher player since the 2000-01 team qualified for regional play.
The Gophers established many records in 2009-10. Statistically, Minnesota averaged a combined score of 303.8 on the season for a stroke average of 75.95, bettering last season's averages of 311.4 and 77.85, respectively, for the lowest season averages in school history. Prior to last season, the previous low was established by the 1987-88 team with a season average 77.97.
As a team, the Gophers finished in the top 10 in nine of the team's 10 regular season tournaments, five of which were also top-five finishes. Also, the Gophers established five of the program's top 10 54-hole scores this season, including a season-low 893 in the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate Feb. 21-23 and shot a program-best 72-hole score of 1,208 at the 2010 Big Ten Championships. The team also added seven of the lowest 18-hole rounds in the history of the program, including a season-low round of 289 in April at the Indiana Invitational.
Players Mentioned
