ROCK HILL, S.C. - Carson-Newman College's Sarah Jane Sinard (Jefferson City, Tenn.) who led the conference in scoring, has been named the 2010 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Player of the Year, while junior Jessica Tarbet (Knoxville, Tenn.) was named first team All-SAC, and sophomore Erica Ray (Maryville, Tenn.) and freshman Melanie Manis (Louisville, Tenn.) were both named to the second team.
Sinard, who averaged 76.1 strokes per round, won the Lady Falcon/McNairy Invitational and the Elite Linen Service Inc. Invitational and had four other top-five finishes. She enters this week's South Atlantic Conference Championships as the defending champion.
Tarbet joins Sinard on the first team after a stellar junior season. She has three top-ten finishes, two of which are top-five finishes, including taking fifth at last week's McAmis Memorial Golf Tournament in Greeneville, Tenn.
Ray, a sophomore, earned second team honors after helping the Lady Eagles to six top-three finishes in eight tournaments. She finished seventh at the Newberry Invitational in the fall.
Manis emerged as one of the top freshmen in the SAC after an impressive fall, including a fourth-place finish in her first college tournament, the Elite Linen Service Inc. Invitational held in Maryville, Tenn. She took 17th in March at the Ralph Hargett Invitational
The 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's and women's golf championships begin Monday at Etowah Valley Country Club in Etowah, N.C. The awards will be presented following Tuesday's final round.
Newberry's Lauren Ressler was named Women's Golf Coach of the Year for the first time after guiding the Newberry women's team to a current national ranking of No. 11 and a regional ranking of No. 7.
Newberry's Josefine Mensner, who won the Patsy Rendleman Invitational and had two other top-five finishes, was named the women's golf Freshman of the Year.
Joining Sinard on the women's golf All-Conference first team are: Jessica Tarbet from Carson-Newman; Kelsey Babos from Catawba; and Maria Besio and Mensner from Newberry.
The women's golf All-Conference second team consists of: Erica Ray and Melanie Manis from Carson-Newman; Lisa Brandl and Barbara Castro from Newberry; and Ashley Denton from Wingate.
Lincoln Memorial's Kirsten Wolff was selected the women's golf Scholar-Athlete. The Scholar-Athlete award is selected by the SAC's Faculty Athletic Representative committee.
Wolff is a junior with a double major in Kinesiology and Business Management, and carries a 3.507 GPA.
She is averaging 85.5 strokes per round this season with one top-10 finish. She was awarded LMU's rookie of the year award as a freshman and received the Coach's award last season. Wolff has been a three-year member of the LMU Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee, helping to raise money for Make-A-Wish and Haiti relief. She is a member of EDGE College Ministry, which takes part in local community projects, and volunteered for ROHO, which takes underprivileged children Christmas shopping, and also volunteers to read to schoolchildren. She has also been involved with teaching children at junior golf clinics.
The 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference men's and women's golf championship begins Monday with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. Monday's competition consists of 36 holes, with the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Live stats will be available at the following links.
2010 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE GOLF AWARD WINNERS
WOMEN'S GOLF ALL CONFERENCE
First Team
Sarah Jane Sinard, Carson-Newman
Jessica Tarbet, Carson-Newman
Kelsey Babos, Catawba
Maria Besio, Newberry
Josefine Mensner, Newberry
Second
Team
Erica Ray, Carson-Newman
Melanie Manis, Carson-Newman
Lisa Brandl, Newberry
Barbara Castro, Newberry
Ashley Denton, Wingate
WOMEN'S GOLF COACH OF THE YEAR – Lauren Ressler, Newberry
WOMEN'S GOLF PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Sarah Jane Sinard, Carson-Newman
WOMEN'S GOLF FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Josefine Mensner, Newberry
WOMEN'S GOLF SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – Kirsten Wolff, Lincoln Memorial
