Thursday, May 4, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – Elle McCord had one of the best debut seasons possible for Northwest Nazarene and caps off her inaugural conference campaign by leading the 2022-23 GNAC Women’s Golf All-Conference Team as the unanimous Player of the Year.

McCord, a transfer from Star, Idaho was also named the GNAC Women’s Golf Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-GNAC after leading the conference with a 76.4 stroke average. Across the season, she notched seven top-10 finishes in 11 events including four top-five results.

McCord led the Nighthawks to a third-place finish at the GNAC Championships in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with a two-round score of 157 to tie for eighth place. She closed out the tournament with a low round of 77. McCord’s season-long efforts also earned her selection to the NCAA West Regional in Dallas, Texas as one of six individual golfers to compete in the tournament.

Conference champion Simon Fraser picked up the remaining two special awards with Meera Minhas being named the Freshman of the Year and Matthew Steinbach voted as the Coach of the Year after leading the Red Leafs to their first conference title since 2019.

Minhas has had a stellar freshman season for SFU, earning three top-10 finishes and leading the Red Leafs with a third-place finish at the GNAC Championships. On the season, Minhas leads Simon Fraser and ranks second in the conference with a 76.9 stroke average through 15 rounds to earn First Team All-GNAC honors.

Steinbach’s Women’s Golf Coach of the Year recognition is the third of his career and his fifth overall when accounting for his efforts as head coach of the Simon Fraser men’s golf team. With Steinbach at the helm, the Red Leafs led the conference with a 306.9 stroke average through 17 rounds. They also finished inside the top 10 in eight of the nine tournaments they have played in. Those top 10 finishes include wins at the San Marcos Shootout and the GNAC Championships.

Simon Fraser leads all programs with six total All-GNAC honorees, including four First-Team selections. Western Washington has five all-conference selections while Northwest Nazarene has three.

The team includes seven repeat honorees, including a four-time honoree in Second-Team selection Megan Billeter of Western Washington. Billeter, a senior from Spokane, Washington ranks third for the Vikings and eighth in the conference with a 78.7 stroke average. She is joined by freshman teammate and First-Team honoree Emma Worgum who led the team at the GNAC Championships with a seventh-place finish. Worgum ranks second for WWU and is seventh in the conference with a 77.4 stroke average.

Saint Martin’s has a pair of freshmen First Team All-GNAC selections in conference champion Ashley Bruland and GNAC Championships runner-up Kelsie Inouye. Bruland stormed to a five-stroke victory in Coeur d’Alene to win the GNAC title with a score of 3-over-par 145. For the season, Bruland ranks second for the Saints and 12th in the conference with an 80.2 stroke average.

Inouye led Saint Martin’s for the season with a 76.9 stroke average to rank third in the conference while amassing three top-five finishes. At the GNAC Championships, Inouye finished one stroke ahead of Minhas with a two-round score of 8-over-par 150.

Along with Minhas, Simon Fraser freshmen Sueah Park and Izzy Ferguson and junior Shirin Anjarwalla also earned First Team All-GNAC honors. Park has been a formidable golfer for SFU since her first tournament, averaging 76.8 strokes per round with a low round of 72.

Ferguson has been yet another Red Leaf with a strong freshman campaign, owning a 77.2 stroke average to rank fourth for the team and fifth in the conference. Anjarwalla also averaged 77.2 strokes per round to rank sixth in the conference. Ferguson shot the lowest round of the season for Simon Fraser with a 69 at the Dennis Rose Invitational in October.