Friday, April 24, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – An all-time great rivalry on the links, Simon Fraser senior Emily Leung and Concordia senior Cammie Decker were named Co-Players of the Year and lead the 2019-20 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Golf All-Conference Team.

Leung and Decker share the Player of the Year award just three days after both were named 2019-20 Division II All-Americans by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA). Leung was selected as the conference’s first First Team All-American while Decker is the first GNAC player to earn second-team honors.

The third and fourth players in GNAC women’s golf history to earn First Team All-GNAC honors four times, Leung and Decker were tied for first in the conference with 73.9 stroke averages. The 2016 Freshman of the Year and 2017 Player of the Year, Leung returned to the top of the conference after carding her stroke average over 12 rounds while finishing with four rounds of par or better.

Leung finished in the top-10 in five out of the six events that she competed at and finished in the top-five on four occasions. She won October’s Division II West Region Preview in Carlsbad, California, with a two-round score of 2-under-par 142 to pace the Clan to a tie for third place to close out the fall season. Her performance included a season-low round of 69 in the first round that, at the time, tied the GNAC single-round record. Leung was also the runner up at September’s Dixie State Fall Invitational at 2-under-par 142.

Decker has either won or shared the Player of the Year award in each of the last three years, winning the award in 2018 and sharing it in 2019 and 2020. She was also named the Freshman of the Year in 2017.

Decker carded her 73.9 stroke average over 13 rounds, placing in the top-10 in five of the Cavs’ six events and finishing in the top-five four times. She earned medalist honors at October’s Concordia Invitational on a two-hole playoff with a two-round score of 5-over-par 149 and also tied for first place at October’s Dennis Rose Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii, at 2-under-par 214, setting the GNAC single-round record with a 4-under-par 68 in the second round. The performance paced the Cavs to their only team victory of the year.

After winning the GNAC Men’s Golf Coach of the Year award on Wednesday, Simon Fraser’s Matthew Steinbach was also named the Women’s Golf Coach of the Year after sharing the award with Concordia’s Lindsay Aho last year. The Clan led the conference with a 302.0 stroke average over 12 rounds and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the WGCA Division II National Rankings. The Clan placed in the top-three in five of its six tournaments, winning its own True North Classic in September and the Concordia Invitational.

Simon Fraser and Concordia each introduced a phenomenal freshman to the conference this year as the Clan’s Claire Lovan and the Cavs’ Jae Eun Park were named Co-Freshmen of the Year and earned first-team honors. Lovan finished fifth in the conference with a 76.4 stroke average over 10 rounds, placing in the top-10 three times, including an eighth-place finish at the True North Classic with a score of 9-over-par 153. Park finished fourth with a 75.5 stroke average and placed in the top-five twice. She placed third at the Concordia Invitational with a score of 6-over-par 150 and finished fifth at the Dennis Rose Invitational at 4-over-par 220.

Making the most of her first and only season at Concordia, junior Katie Bogert was named to the second team and earned the Newcomer of the Year award. Bogert finished the season with a 79.2 stroke average over nine rounds. Her top performance came at the Dennis Rose Invitational as she carded a score of 228 to finish tied for 16th.

Simon Fraser dominated the All-Conference Team with all five of its selections landing on the first team. Joining Emily Leung and Lovan are senior Jaya Rampuri, junior Estee Leung and freshman Frida Ehnebom. Rounding out the first team is Western Washington freshman Elise Sumner.

Rampuri earned her third first-team nod after she finished third in the conference with a 75.2 stroke average over 12 rounds and carded four rounds of par or below. She placed in the top-10 four times and finished in the top-three on three occasions, opening the fall season with a win at the True North Classic with a score of even-par 144 as the Clan cruised to a 25-stroke victory.

Estee Leung joins her sister on the first team after earning second-team honors last year. She finished with a 78.4 stroke average over eight rounds, finishing in the top-10 twice and in the top-five once, placing third at the True North Classic with a score of 4-over-par 148. Ehnebom finished seventh with a 77.5 stroke average over 12 rounds, turning in two rounds of par or better and finishing in the top-10 on two occasions.

Sumner led the Vikings in her freshman campaign and finished eighth with a 77.8 stroke average over 13 rounds. She finished in the top-10 at two of the six tournaments that she competed at, led by her sixth-place finish at the Dennis Rose Invitational with a score of 6-over-par 222.

Simon Fraser and Western Washington led the way with five All-GNAC selections while Concordia had three. Of the 15 selections, six are freshmen, including four on the first team.

2019-20 GNAC WOMEN'S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Emily Leung, Simon Fraser & Cammie Decker, Concordia
Coach of the Year: Matthew Steinbach, Simon Fraser
Freshman of the Year: Claire Lovan, Simon Fraser & Jae Eun Park, Concordia
Newcomer of the Year: Katie Bogert, Concordia