Four ONU Women’s Golfers recognized as WGCA All-American Scholars in 2018
By Blake Moore
| WGCA Scholar All-America Team |
ADA – Ohio Northern senior women's golfer Raven Venegas (Lima/Shawnee), juniors Caitlin Silva (Hilliard/Bradley) and Alaina Mikolajewski (Piqua), and sophomore Taylor Daniel (Columbia City, Ind.) were all named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar Team, the national office announced Tuesday, July 3.
The four student-athletes were among 1,011 golfers recognized on this year's listing, which includes golfers from all levels of collegiate play.
To be nominated, individuals must meet the team's minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50.
All four individuals previously received notoriety for their academic success after being named to the Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference team earlier this postseason.
Daniel, an art education major, recently finished her second season at ONU.
The sophomore would see strong growth on the course, improving her scorecard by an average of 5.7 strokes from her first year to drop her season average to 94.1.
Mikolajewski, a third-year player for Northern, is a criminal justice major.
During the season, she would play six rounds while averaging 101.5 strokes.
Silva, who is majoring in early childhood education, was third on the team this year with an 87.9 average in 16 rounds.
Overall, she ranks seventh all-time in stroke average throughout school history, having posted an 89.89 mark in 47.5 rounds played during her career.
Silva is now a two-time honoree by the WGCA, having been a recipient one season ago.
Venegas, a law student at ONU, is a transfer from Walsh University where she played for three seasons.
On the course this year, she would post the second-best stroke average for the Polar Bears with an 85.7 mark. In addition, Venegas was named to the All-Conference Team after ending 13th at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships.
Northern would conclude the season with a 27-18 record during the campaign while also finishing fifth at the OAC Championships under fifth-year head coach Chad Bucci.