Hagan highlights Kansas’ Big 12 postseason awards
IRVING, Texas – For the second time in her Kansas career, senior forward Grace Hagan was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and was joined by two teammates who were honored on the league’s postseason awards, announced by the conference Tuesday afternoon. Junior forward Katie McClure was a second team honoree, while freshman goalkeeper Sarah Peters claimed a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman squad.
Hagan, a native of Wichita, becomes just the fifth Jayhawk in program history to be named the league’s first team multiple times. She claimed all-league honors for the third time overall, which includes her selection to the first team in 2016 and to the second team a year ago. The senior tallied seven goals to go along with three assists this season, as well as a league-leading 60 shots. For her career, Hagan ranks fifth on KU’s all-time goals listed with 25, and is just the second player in program history to post 25 goals and 15 assists in a career.
McClure, also a product of Wichita, earned a spot on the second team after leading the Jayhawks with eight goals this season, a figure that ranks third in the Big 12. Her six game-winning goals leads the conference and ranks the junior fourth in the NCAA. McClure, who was a three-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week recipient this year, claimed her second postseason league award after she was named to the All-Freshman team after the 2016 campaign.
Rounding out the Kansas selections was Peters, who became the 10th KU freshman in the last eight seasons to claim a spot on the Big 12’s All-Freshman Team. From Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Peters was the Jayhawks’ starting goalkeeper in all 19 of the team’s contests. Between the posts she notched nine shutouts, a KU freshman record and the third-most among Big 12 keepers this season. She also posted a 0.89 goals-against average, which ranks seventh among NCAA DI freshman goalkeepers.
The announcement means Kansas has had at least one Jayhawk on the All-Big 12 teams each year since the current format began in 2000. The three Jayhawks selected also marked the seventh-straight season three or more KU representatives were selected to the all-conference squads. Selections for the All-Big 12 teams were voted on by the league’s coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
The Jayhawks (11-5-3) are coming off a 0-0 draw against the No. 17 Texas Longhorns in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship Sunday night in Kansas City, where they were eventually eliminated in penalty kicks. Kansas will look to hear its name called when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday, November 5. The selection show will begin at 3:30 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed at NCAA.com. The first round of the NCAA Tournament is set to begin Nov. 9 and will be contested at campus sites.
FOLLOW
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
