After seeing an unprecedented six members of the team earn Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar accolades, the Florida Gulf Coast University women’s golf team was named the fourth-ranked team among the WGCA Academic Top-25, as announced by the organization last week.
“We are extremely proud of this tremendous collective accomplishment by the outstanding ladies who comprise our women’s golf program,” said Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh.  “In turn, I want to congratulate Coach (Sarah) Trew and thank her entire team for not only this wonderful recognition, but also for their recently completed FGCU Athletics phenomenal record-setting academic semester.”
The 2013-14 women’s golf program set new marks for the program both athletically and academically.  The Eagles set a new single-season scoring record with a team average of 307.88, while also setting a new benchmark academically.  The group earned a team grade point average of 3.8 in the fall semester and set the FGCU athletics team record with a 3.92 during the spring of 2014.  The cumulative mark of 3.822 ranked the team fourth among the nation’s women’s golf programs.
“To be in the top-five in the nation academically is a tremendous accomplishment and a huge honor,” Trew said. “After having our best academic semester in history during the fall, we discussed the possibility of contending for this award and the team never looked back. The ladies decided they wanted to work even harder in the spring to better their grade point average in hopes of posting the highest number in the country.  We fell just a little bit short, but I could not be more proud of the team.  This group truly exemplifies the definition of the term student-athlete, excelling both in the classroom and on the golf course.”
The University of Texas-El Paso was recognized as the 2013-14 WGCA All-Scholar Team GPA Award winner with a cumulative team GPA of 3.840.  The University of New Mexico (3.839), University of Detroit Mercy (3.838) and Creighton (3.787) rounded out the top five, while only Weber State University added to those teams producing a 3.75 or higher.
“I know after our Fall 2013 semester, we set a team goal for ourselves to get a team GPA of 3.8 and we surpassed that in the spring semester,” said Rebecca VanEtten, member of the team.
In addition to the team award, the FGCU women’s golf program also saw six members of the team named Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar accolades. The criteria for selection ranks as one of the most stringent in all of college athletics, with each award recipient earning a 3.50 cumulative grade point average or higher.
FGCU joined just Xavier and Eastern Michigan University as the only Division I women’s golf programs to place six student-athletes on the list.  No other Division I institution saw more golfers earn the distinction.
The group includes junior Chelsea Guoynes, junior Georgia Price, sophomore Mei Khuan Yong, sophomore Rebecca VanEtten, sophomore Sarah Detlefsen and recent graduate Megan VanEtten
Guoynes, Price, Yong, Rebecca VanEtten and Detlefsen all received the honor following the 2012-13 season as well.