Cheyenne Knight, Kristen Gillman,
Lauren Stephenson & Cammie Gray Are Honored
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| Alabama Women's Golfer Cheyenne Knight 2017 Southeastern Conference Player Of The Year Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Crimson Tide sophomore Cheyenne Knight was honored by being named the SEC Player of the Year, while freshman UA standout Kristen Gillman was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. Knight, Gillman as well as sophomore Lauren Stephenson also earned first team All-SEC honors. Gillman was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Senior Cammie Gray was named to the SEC Community Service Team for the second consecutive year.
Knight enjoys her second All-SEC honor, joining Stephanie Meadow (2013, 2014) as the only Crimson Tide women's golfers to earn SEC Player of the Year honors. Gillman now joins Jennifer Kirby (2010), Meadow (2011) and Emma Talley (2013) as the fourth SEC Freshman of the Year in UA women's golf history.
With the first-team selections of Knight, Gillman and Stephenson, Bama women's golf has now landed three golfers on the All-SEC first team for the third time in program history. Camilla Lennarth, Stephanie Meadow and Brooke Pancake received the honor in 2011, then in 2012 it was Meadow, Pancake and Jennifer Kirby selected.
The Crimson Tide will be the No. 1 Seed at the NCAA Athens Regional at the University of Georgia Golf Club in Athens Georgia, slated to run from May 8-10. The top six teams will advance to the NCAA Championships May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
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Alabama Women's Golf Begins
NCAA Regional Play On Monday
The top six teams and top three individuals from the regional will qualify for the 2017 NCAA Women's Golf Championships slated be held May 19-24 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Crimson Tide Women Dominate Southeastern Conference Postseason Awards
The Alabama women's golf team captured numerous awards this year. Sophomore Cheyenne Knight was named the SEC Player of the Year, while freshman Kristen Gillman was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. Knight, Gillman and sophomore Lauren Stephenson also earned first team All-SEC honors and Gillman was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Senior Cammie Gray was named to the SEC Community Service Team for the second consecutive year.
This is the second All-SEC honor for Knight, who joins Stephanie Meadow (2013, 2014) as the only Crimson Tide women's golfers to earn SEC Player of the Year honors. Gillman joins Jennifer Kirby (2010), Meadow (2011) and Emma Talley (2013) as the fourth SEC Freshman of the Year in Crimson Tide women's golf history.
With the first-team selections of Knight, Gillman and Stephenson, Alabama women's golf now can count three times that Tide has placed three golfers on the All-SEC first team. Camilla Lennarth, Stephanie Meadow and Brooke Pancake were honored in 2011 while Meadow, Pancake and Jennifer Kirby were selected in 2012.
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It's Commencement Weekend At UA
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More Than 80 Student-Athletes To Receive Degrees
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| Graduation Weekend At The University of Alabama Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
UA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said, "At The University of Alabama, our primary mission is for our student-athletes to make the most of their collegiate careers, both in their academic and athletic endeavors, and to have them graduate prepared to compete at the highest level in the next chapters of their lives. We are very proud and pleased to have such a large and accomplished group of graduates this spring who are ready to do just that."
Also being recognized during Saturday's ceremony will be former Alabama football student-athlete and Director of Athletics Bill Battle. He will be recognized with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Battle played football for the legendary Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant in the early 1960s and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from The Capstone in 1963. He then followed that up with a master's degree in education from Oklahoma in 1964. Battle served as the UA Director of Athletics from 2013-17.
Battle said, "I am humbled by this truly amazing honor. To be recognized in this manner is tremendous and I am beyond proud to stand among so many of our student-athletes who are receiving their degrees this weekend."
Receiving their degrees this weekend will be NCAA champions and All-Americans Katie Bailey (gymnastics), Connor Oslin (men's swimming and diving), Hayden Reed (men's track and field) and Erin Routliffe (women's tennis).
Of note, Oslin is also one of four May graduates to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors during their Crimson Tide careers. She joins Alex Gholston (women's track and field), Anton McKee (men's swimming and diving) and Krystal Rivers (volleyball) in these honors. Just in the last few days McKee was named the Southeastern Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was the 2016 CoSIDA At-Large Team Academic All-American of the Year. Oslin, Rivers and Danielle Spielmann (women's tennis) were also named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for their respective sports.
Also of note is that in addition to being the SEC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Rivers was also named the SEC Player of the Year this past season. Rivers is the first Alabama student-athlete in Southeastern Conference history to be named both volleyball's player and scholar-athlete of the year in the same season.
The Crimson Tide will graduate 22 All-Americans this weekend, including the following: Bailey, McKee, Oslin, Reed, Rivers, Routliffe, Tony Brown (men's track and field), Vanessa Clerveaux (women's track and field), Kyle Felpel (men's track and field), Justin Fondren (men's track and field), Alex Gholston (women's track and field), Angelo Goss (men's track and field), Alex Gray (men's swimming and diving), Jeremiah Green (men's track and field), Elias Hakansson (men's track and field), Caroline Korst (women's swimming and diving), Antibahs Kosgei (men's track and field/cross country), Tadashi Pinder (men's track and field), Marisa Runyon (softball), Bailey Scott (women's swimming and diving), Brittany Thomas (volleyball) and Joe Williams (men's track and field).
Eight student-athletes earned graduate degrees in May, including Thomas, Williams, Corban Collins (men's basketball), Chandler Dare (softball), Cammie Gray (women's golf), Jordan Meier (soccer), Mike Oczypok (baseball) and Robby Prater (men's golf).
There will be a total of four commencement ceremonies this weekend, the first of which is scheduled for this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. CT. Three ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m CT.
