England earns third consecutive South Atlantic Conference First-Team selection
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the third consecutive year, Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) has been named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First-Team, becoming the first player in program history to be named to the conference’s first-team three times. She was joined on the All-SAC roster by Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo), who received an Honorable Mention selection.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the third consecutive year, Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) has been named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First-Team, becoming the first player in program history to be chosen as a member of the conference's first-team three times. She was joined on the All-SAC roster by Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo), who received an Honorable Mention selection.
"I'm really pleased with the selections of both Elizabeth and Taylor," said coach Suzanne Strudwick. "They have each shown leadership, dedication and a tremendous work ethic, both on the golf course and in the classroom. The culture of our team is safe in their hands. That is the Eagle way."
England completed the schedule with the second-best stroke average in the league at 76.2, one-tenth of a stroke off the school's record, which was set by Sarah Jane Sinard in 2009-10.
The Oakland native has been on the course for all 18 rounds of golf played by her team this season and owns the squad's five lowest scores of the campaign. She became the first player since 2010-11 to win two tournaments in one year, as she collected titles at the King (Tenn.) Intercollegiate in September and the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in March. In the former, she tied a conference record with a final round 68 that clinched the victory. In the latter event, England topped the leaderboard in a field that included players from five Division I schools, as well as the nationally ranked Lee University Flames. She also shot under par in the final round of the Sunoco Oil Campbell Classic, C-N's most recent event.
For Hayes, this marks her second conference postseason honor in as many seasons, as she was a second-team selection last year. The sophomore has collected three top 10 finishes since September, including earning a tie for fifth at the Sunoco Oil Campbell Classic. Her stroke average of 78.53 places her second on Strudwick's roster. Four of the Eagles' top 11 rounds during the current campaign belong to Hayes and her low mark of a 74 is one she's matched four times.
This is the fourth time in four years under Strudwick that Mossy Creek has produced a member of the SAC's first-team, as Meredith Hawkins garnered recognition in 2014.
Barely edging out England for SAC Player of the Year honors was Lenoir-Rhyne's Abbey Hartsell, thanks to a league-best 75.8 stroke average. Joining Hartsell and England on the first-team were Kate Hill from Anderson (S.C.), Tusculum's Ciara Rattana and Natalie Pleyerova of Queens (N.C.). Hill also collected the conference's Freshman of the Year award and Erin Thorne from Wingate was recognized as Coach of the Year.
England, Hayes and their teammates will be battling for the SAC Championship starting on Sunday, which is the first day of the conference tournament at the Link Hills Country Club in Greeneville, Tenn.
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