Cummins named All-SAC selection, program's first Freshman of the Year

Cummins named All-SAC selection, program's first Freshman of the Year
Posted: Apr 05, 2019

VIDEO: Maeve Cummins Interview

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Thanks to a stellar freshman campaign, Maeve Cummins has received two South Atlantic Conference accolades with a second-team selection and the program's first-ever Freshman of the Year honor, as announced by the league office on Friday.

"Obviously, it's a huge honor, but for stuff like this, I feel like it's more important for my family back home (in Northern Ireland)," Cummins said. "As like, obviously it wasn't easy for them, like, growing up, they took me out of the hard times because sport deals you a lot of heartaches, and then, obviously, they sent me off here and I'm out here having all this success and they're not here to celebrate it with me.

"For me, right now, I'm just focused on conference and trying to get the team a ring."

Cummins has made a splash in her first year at Mossy Creek, leading the team with a 76.1 stroke average and has played in every event for the Eagles this season. Of those events, she has been in the starting lineup for all but one, spending much of the year in the top two spots among the starters. She has recorded five top-10 finishes with two in the top-three, including a win at the King University Invitational where she competed as an individual. There, she became the first freshman to win an event for C-N since Elizabeth England at the Newberry/Carson-Newman duel in 2015.

The Waringstown, Northern Ireland-native holds the second-lowest round score on the season with a 71 in the second round of the Sunoco Campbell Oil Classic. Her 146 and 222 are the lowest 36-hole and 54-hole totals among the team this year, respectively.

While she is in just her debut season with the group, Cummins sits at the top of the best career scoring average list (76.1), career won-lost percentage list (.826) and has tied Elizabeth England's 2016-17 clip for the best scoring average in a season (76.1).

According to Golfstat, she is ranked 122nd in the nation, the best spot of any freshman in the SAC.

"You never know how you're going to react," Cummins said. "Golf is such a funny sport; there's so many outside influence that can come into it, but I knew if I just, like, tried to take all the distractions out and just focus on what task I have at hand.

"I mean, the team really helped me adjust well, especially juniors and seniors. They help me on and off the course which is really good."

Thanks to her laurels, No. 24/25 Carson-Newman, sitting at 13th in the initial NCAA South Regional Ranking, now has 22 All-Conference selections in team history, dating back to 2009. In that span, eight Eagles have made the second team list.

Cummins and the rest of the Eagles head to the SAC Championship in Hickory, N.C. The three-day event begins Sunday morning from the Catawba Springs Golf Course at the Lake Hickory Country Club.

 

2019 SAC Women's Golf All-Conference

 

First Team All-Conference

Mind Puangcharoen, Wingate
Lise Malherbe, Lincoln Memorial
Abbey Hartsell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Tiffany Elam, Anderson
Kaley Barts, Catawba

Second Team All-Conference

Maeve Cummins, Carson-Newman
Kate Hill, Anderson
Alyssa Campbell, Coker
Victoria Hall, Anderson
Megan Robb, Lenoir-Rhyne

Honorable Mention All-Conference

Katie Tomassoni, Tusculum
Anna Freeman, Anderson
Taylor Lance, Newberry
Nabila Inak, Newberry
Sarah Coltrane, Catawba

Freshman of the Year

Maeve Cummins, Carson-Newman

Golfer of the Year

Mind Puangcharoen, Wingate

Coach of the Year

Danny Neal, Anderson