HBU’s Sara Zrnikova Tabbed 2019-20 Women’s Golf Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas – Houston Baptist’s Sara Zrnikova is the 2019-20 Southland Conference Women’s Golf Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Wednesday. In addition to the announcement of the yearly award, the academic all-conference teams were also released. Student-Athlete of the Year awards are presented by
GEICO.
Zrnikova headlines the 2019-20 academic all-conference teams as a first-team selection, earning her spot for the second-consecutive year. The junior holds a 3.96 grade-point average as a kinesiology major and is a Chi Alpha Sigma member, an honor society meant to recognize collegiate student-athletes who hold a GPA of 3.40 or higher. Zrnikova closed out the 2019-20 season ranked sixth in the conference averaging a score of 75 over 21 rounds. She pushed the Huskies to a team victory at the Bearkat Women’s Invitational (Sept. 30-Oct. 1).
Houston Baptist tops the academic teams with four selections in total as Zrnikova was joined by Tiffany Nguyen on the first team and second-teamers Grace Cassity and Alisa Chong. Both Zrnikova and Chong make their way onto the all-academic rosters as repeat members.
Sam Houston State comes in next with a pair of first-team honorees in sisters Hanna and Leah Alberto. The Bearkat duo pushed their squad to a pair of tournament victories over the course of seven invitationals throughout the year. Hanna, a senior, makes her way on the all-academic squad for the third time of her career.
Central Arkansas’ Elin Kumlin, UIW’s Gracie Aday, Stephen F. Austin’s Alexandra Batista and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Kelli Ann Dugan round out the all-academic rosters.
The all-academic teams are voted on by a head coach, sports information director and an academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA and completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to qualify for All-Academic selection.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
2019-20 Southland Women’s Golf All-Academic Team
Student-Athlete of the Year: Sara Zrnikova, Houston Baptist
First Team
| Name |
Class |
School |
Hometown |
Major |
GPA |
| Elin Kumlin |
So. |
Central Arkansas |
Kinna, Sweden |
Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
3.85 |
| Tiffany Nguyen |
So. |
Houston Baptist |
Houston, Texas |
Biology |
3.95 |
| Sara Zrnikova2 |
Jr. |
Houston Baptist |
Usti Nad Labem, Czech Republic |
Kinesiology |
3.96 |
| Hanna Alberto3 |
Sr. |
Sam Houston State |
Kingwood, Texas |
Public Health |
3.67 |
| Leah Alberto |
So. |
Sam Houston State |
Kingwood, Texas |
Public Health |
3.87 |
Second Team
| Name |
Class |
School |
Hometown |
Major |
GPA |
| Grace Cassity |
So. |
Houston Baptist |
Katy, Texas |
KSMT |
4.0 |
| Alisa Chong2 |
Sr. |
Houston Baptist |
Carrolton, Texas |
Kinesiology |
3.41 |
| Gracie Aday |
Sr. |
UIW |
The Woodlands, Texas |
Communications Arts |
3.69 |
| Alexandra Batista2 |
Sr. |
Stephen F. Austin |
Trophy Club, Texas |
Multidisciplinary Studies |
3.80 |
| Kelli Ann Dugan |
So. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
San Antonio, Texas |
Mechanical Engineering |
3.90 |
2 Two-time All-Academic selection
3 Three-time All-Academic selection