Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham named Big Ten Player of the Year
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced the women’s golf All-Conference teams and individual award winners on Tuesday following the 2018 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships. Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, Purdue’s Inez Wanamarta earned Freshman of the Year honors and Michigan State head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Burnham completed the regular season and Big Ten Championships ranked No. 17 nationally by Golfstat. She posted a season stroke average of 70.68, and finished second at the Big Ten Championships, shooting a three-round score of 5-under par 211. Burnham helped the Spartans secure their second straight Big Ten Championships title and earned the Mary Fossum Award, honoring the conference's player with the lowest stroke average (-1.21) relative to par this season. Burnham is the fourth Michigan State student to earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors and the first Spartan to claim the award in back-to-back years.
Wanamarta finished the season ranked eighth in the Big Ten and No. 78 nationally by Golfstat. The newcomer appeared in 11 tournaments this season and posted a stroke average of 72.93. She tallied a 12th-place finish at last weekend’s Big Ten Championships, shooting a one-under par 215 over the three rounds. Wanamarta becomes the seventh Boilermaker to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and the first since Laura Gonzalez-Escallon in the 2010 season.
Slobodnik-Stoll guided Michigan State to its eighth Big Ten Championship after the Spartans carded a three-round team total of 869 (283-286-290) in the Big Ten Championships at TPC River’s Bend. Slobodnik-Stoll claims Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time, also earning the nod in 2001, 2007, 2012 and 2017.
The All-Big Ten first team features Ohio State’s Jaclyn Lee, the 2018 individual Big Ten Champion, along with Illinois’ Grace Park and Bing Singhsumalee, Michigan State’s Burnham, Allyson Geer and Paz Marfa,
Northwestern’s Hannah Kim and Janet Mao, and Purdue’s Wanamarta. Burnham earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive season, while Kim becomes the 12th Big Ten golfer to garner first-team accolades for four straight seasons.
The Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the students must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The complete list of honorees can be found below.
2018 BIG TEN WOMEN’S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE AND INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
Big Ten Player of the Year: Sarah Burnham, Michigan State
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Inez Wanamarta, Purdue
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, Michigan State
FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN*
Grace Park, Illinois
Bing Singhsumalee, Illinois
Sarah Burnham, Michigan State
Allyson Geer, Michigan State
Paz Marfa, Michigan State
Hannah Kim, Northwestern
Janet Mao, Northwestern
Jaclyn Lee, Ohio State
Inez Wanamarta, Purdue
SECOND-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Chay Prapassarangkul, Illinois
Xiaolin Tian, Maryland
Sarah Cho, Northwestern
Stephanie Lau, Northwestern
Micaela Farah, Purdue
Gabby Curtis, Wisconsin
*Additional honorees due to ties
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Alix Kong, Indiana
Shawn Rennegarbe, Iowa
Laura Van Respaille, Maryland
Emily White, Michigan
Katie Sharp, Michigan State
Sabrine Garrison, Minnesota
Hannah Thiele, Nebraska
Sarah Cho, Northwestern
Niki Schroeder, Ohio State
Maddy Herr, Penn State
Marta Martin, Purdue
Ana Cortes, Rutgers
Becky Klongland, Wisconsin
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