ROCK HILL, S.C. – On the eve of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship, freshman Kate Hill and sophomore Tiffany Elam have garnered All-South Atlantic Conference accolades, as announced by the conference office, Friday morning.
Hill is the first Anderson University golfer – men's or women's – to capture First-Team All-SAC accolades since the Trojans joined the conference for the 2011 campaign and becomes the first AU women's golfer to earn SAC Freshman of the Year since Katie Eskew in 2011.
Elam becomes the second Trojan women's golfer in as many seasons to earn Second-Team All-Conference honors, as Makalyn Poole captured second-team accolades a year ago.
Hill and Elam shared the team's low round honors on the season, with Elam carding a 72 in the first round of the Pfeiffer Invitational and in last Tuesday's second round at Tusculum's Agnes McAmis Memorial. Hill fired a career-low 72 in the opening round of the Illinois-Springfield Island Getaway last October in Puerto Rico.
Hill owned the squad's best scoring average (76.56), while leading the team on four occasions. The Clemson, S.C., native posted six top-10 finishes on the season and placed in the top five in four events. She carded a 3-over-par 145 to place third at the Illinois-Springfield Island Getaway and got her spring season off to a good start with a third-place showing at the Barton Invitational with a plus-seven 151.
Elam was just behind with a 78.00 average and also paced the squad on four occasions, while notching a pair of top-10 finishes. She opened the year by by earning All-Tournament recognition at the AU Invitational last September and book-ended the season with All-Tournament honors earlier this week at the Agnes McAmis Memorial. Elam carded a two-day 151 at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational last October and posted a season-best two-round 150 at the Agnes McAmis Memorial.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Abbey Hartsell was voted the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golfer of the Year, while Wingate mentor Erin Thorne was tabbed the Coach of the Year.
Hartsell, a sophomore from Taylorsville, N.C., posted the League's lowest adjusted scoring average. She played in 19 events for the Bears and tied for the league's lowest round this season with a 68 at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational on Oct. 10 to win the event with a three-under par 141. She also won the Tusculum Fall Classic as she fired an even par 144. In addition to her two wins, Hartsell placed in the top 10 in five other events, including four top five finishes. The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year, Hartsell finished as the runner-up at the 2016 SAC Women's Golf Championship. The award marks Lenoir-Rhyne's first Player of the Year plaudit since 2002.
Thorne earns her first-ever South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Coach of the Year honor as the Bulldogs finished in the top 10 in every event they played in this year. Wingate's best finish of the year came at the Wingate Intercollege with a first-place finish. The Bulldogs also finished in the top five in five events this season. Wingate's opening-round 292 at the Pfeiffer Invitational in early March set a program record and was only one shot off the South Atlantic Conference record, set by Tusculum in 2012.
The South Atlantic Conference Championship is set for April 9-11, at the Link Hills Country Club in Greeneville, Tenn.
2017 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf All-Conference Teams
First Team
Abby Hartsell Lenoir-Rhyne
Elizabeth England Carson-Newman
Ciara Ratana Tusculum
Kate Hill Anderson
Natalie Pleyerova Queens
Second Team
Katie Tomassoni Tusculum
Diana McDonald Wingate
Cristina Casanella Wingate
Angela Luna Coker
Tiffany Elam Anderson
Honorable Mention
Reagan Greene Lincoln Memorial
Mikaela Hadaway Wingate
Taylor Hayes Carson-Newman
Katie Kasper Wingate
Laura Nunez Wingate
Player of the Year: Abby Hartsell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Freshman of the Year: Kate Hill, Anderson
Coach of the Year: Erin Thorne, Wingate
