Wednesday, April 27, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Fresh off a five-stroke victory at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Women’s Golf Championship, Stetson sophomore Alexandria Buelow repeated as Conference Player of the Year, the league offices announced on Wednesday.

Buelow, who won three tournaments this year, becomes the fifth player in league history to win consecutive Player of the Year awards. She joins a list that includes Moria Dunn (FIU, 1992-1993), Mara Larrauri (Campbell, 1997-98), Alejandra Shaw (Campbell, 2006-07) and Lorie Warren (Belmont, 2008-09). Her head coach, Floyd Kerr, won a third-straight A-Sun Coach of the Year award – becoming just the second head coach in league history to win the award three times, joining Campbell’s John Crooks.

Three golfers joined Buelow as unanimous selections to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team. ETSU’s Nina Muehl and Kennesaw State’s Ket Preamchuen made the First Team for a second-straight year. This honor for Muehl follows on the heels of the ETSU junior earning an individual spot to the NCAA Central Regional next month. In the spring portion of the year, Muehl earned three Women’s Golfers of the Week and shared the medalist honors at the Sir Pizza Cards Challenge.

FGCU’s Briana Carlson also made the squad by unanimous consent, becoming the first Eagle to make the First Team in program history. Carlson posted eight top-10 finishes in nine tournaments highlighted by a win at the University of Cincinnati Spring Invitational in late March.

The final First-Team spot went to ETSU freshman Sian Evans. In addition to the First-Team honor, she became the second Buccaneer named the A-Sun Freshman of the Year - joining Laura Jansone in 2007. She became the fourth freshman to also make the First Team in the last three years (Buelow and Premchuen in 2010, Stetson’s Lauren Cate in 2009). Evans headed up the All-Freshmen Team where she, Kennesaw State’s Hayley Clinning, Stetson’s Mallory Viera and Mercer’s Mary Alice Murphy all made the team unanimously. Campbell’s Kaylin Yost rounded the team.

Clinning and Viera added Second-Team honors to their All-Freshmen team accolades. Stetson’s Cate and a pair of Camels, Michelle Koh and Sarah Bejgrowicz joined the two freshmen on the Second Team.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts five of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.