Strudwick garners second SAC Coach of the Year accolade, England named first team All-SAC

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Posted: Apr 08, 2016

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman women's golf coach Suzanne Strudwick was named the South Atlantic Conference's Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons, while sophomore Elizabeth England became a two-time All-SAC first team member, the league announced on Friday morning.

Strudwick becomes the seventh coach since 2000 to win multiple Coach of the Year accolades, while England (Oakland, Tenn.) becomes the third Eagle to be named to the SAC's first team on multiple occasions and the first since 2011. Senior Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) and freshman Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) were each members of the conference's second team. The 2015-16 season marks the fourth time in program history that the Eagles have had at least three players honored by the league.

Queens's (N.C.) Grace Glaze was named the league's Player of the Year, while Abbey Hartsell from Lenoir-Rhyne picked up Freshman of the Year honors.

"It's a huge honor, but it doesn't really reflect on me; it reflects on the players of your team and how well they've done," Strudwick said. "I accept this on their behalf. We'll share it for their hard work. What we've got to do now is finish off conference and bring the trophy home."

Strudwick led her squad to four top-three finishes during the 2015-16 campaign. Her team finished in the top-10 in six events this season and was in the top-15 in every event the Eagles played. Carson-Newman finished second at the third-annual Smokey Mountain Intercollegiate and also turned in a runner-up finish at the Lady Flames Shootout. In 2014, she became the first C-N mentor to be named the best of the best in the SAC.

England followed in the footsteps of Carson-Newman legends Jessica Tarbet and Sarah Jane Sinard as the third Eagle to become a two-time first-team All-SAC honoree. As a sophomore, the Oakland, Tenn. native held an adjusted score average of 77.91 and won her second career event at the Agnes McAmis Memorial by five strokes last season. She tied her career-best round with an even-par 72 during the final round of the Agnes McAmis and has scored in the 70s in seven of her last eight rounds.

"I'm just really delighted to have the honor again," England said. "I've worked really hard last summer and I feel like a lot of parts of my game have gotten a lot better. I'm more confident in that. I think it is mentally staying focused and making good decisions on my shots; that is I'm ultimately trying to work on."

"She's done extremely well in every event that we have gone into," Strudwick said of her sophomore. "In the fall, she had a couple of opportunities to win; she was leading going into the last round and so it was a learning, growth and development period for her just learning how to lead. She ended up winning this last event by a lot and for me, it just capped off the learning period right from the first tournament at Rollins. It's big for her. I expect her to get better and better each year."

Hawkins's addition to the SAC's second team marks the third time the Powell, Tenn. native was named to one of the league's three postseason teams. As a sophomore, she was the co-SAC Player of the Year and was Honorable Mention All-SAC as a junior. Hawkins was also named the South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2015. The senior holds the team's second-lowest stroke average of 79.8 and recorded three top-10 finishes during her final campaign at Mossy Creek.

"For Meridith, keeping up her studies, she's pre-med and hoping to go on to medical school, that's huge," Strudwick said of the senior. "I don't think people realize how difficult it is for our student-athletes to not only perform at an elite level on their playing field, but then also in the classroom. That is something we push here at Carson-Newman: excellence in your sport and excellence in the classroom. For me, Meridith personifies that absolutely perfectly. She's someone that, when I'm recruiting, you want to look up to this person."

Hayes becomes the first Carson-Newman golfer to be named to the league's second team since Melanie Manis did so in 2010. The Missourian owns an 80.1 stroke average and recorded a career-best finish at the Smokey Mountain Intercollegiate with a third-place showing. At the SMI, she set and then tied her best round in her short career at four-over 76.

"Not only has she performed beyond her own expectations, but for me, just having someone with her personality on the team, she is always upbeat, she is always ready, willing and able to do anything," Strudwick said. "She is shown herself to be a leader for this team on and off the course and I love it. I hope to be able to recruit more players like Taylor."

"Meridith, I'm really glad. She's played really well this season, and hopefully, we can all play really well for her and Kelli (Pemberton) so we can give them a good senior season at conference," England said. "And Taylor, she's done really well and meshed with the team. I'm really happy for them."

England was joined on the league's first team by Glaze, Hartsell, Tusculum's Ciara Rattana and Sydney Gallant from Lincoln Memorial.

The SAC Women's Golf Championship tees off on Sunday morning as the Eagles look to defend their conference title at 8:30 a.m. at the Monroe Country Club in Monroe, N.C.

2016 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf All-Conference

First Team

Grace Glaze, Queens

Abbey Hartsell, Lenoir-Rhyne

Elizabeth England, Carson-Newman

Ciara Rattana, Tusculum

Sydney Gallant, Lincoln Memorial

Second Team

Makalyn Poole, Anderson

Meredith Hawkins, Carson-Newman

Karley Mims, Newberry

Taylor Hayes, Carson-Newman