Four KU Women's Golfers Named to NGCA All-America Scholar List

July 12, 2011

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Four Kansas women’s golfers were named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-America Scholar list for the 2011 season.

Seniors Meghna Bal and Jennifer Clark earned the All-America honors for the second time, while senior Grace Thiry and junior Katy Nugent were first-time selections.

The four players give KU womens golf a total of 22 Academic All-America scholars, including 20 since 2002. The four honorees matched the 2009 total KU produced for the most selections in a year.

To earn recognition the student-athletes must have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.50, one of the most stringent requirements in all of college athletics.

Bal and Clark were both named to the team in 2009. Bal and Thiry, another senior, both majored in sport science, while Clark was a graphic design major and transfer Katy Nugent is an accounting major.

On the course in 2011, Nugent was second on the team in scoring average at 76.03. The Arkansas transfer finished second at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational. Thiry was third with a 76.63 average and claimed medalist honors at the Marilynn Smith.

Bal was fourth on the team at 76.88 and carded a tie for third at the Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate for her top finish of the season. Clark was sixth on the team with a 78.90 scoring average with a tie for 23rd at the Chip-N Club Invitational.

“I am very proud of these four players,” said Jayhawks head coach Erin O’Neil. “They work hard in the classroom and on the golf course and it is great to see all of their dedication recognized with these Academic All-America honors.”

Earlier this year, Bal, Clark and Thiry were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Conference first teams. Nugent was not eligible as a first-year transfer.