Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Long named C-USA Female Golfer of the Year
4/23/2019 11:00:00 AM | Women's Golf, BRAA
Burks joins Long as All-Conference honoree
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee's Hanley Long headlined the announcement of the 2019 Conference USA Women's Golf superlatives on Tuesday, as the senior was named the league's Female Golfer of the Year following her record-breaking campaign for the Blue Raiders.
The Golfer of the Year honor gives Long back-to-back superlative awards after being named C-USA's Most Improved Golfer a season ago, while she also earned her fourth consecutive all-league selection as she was voted to the All-Conference USA First Team for the second consecutive season. Long is the first Blue Raider in the program's 18-year history to win league Golfer of the Year honors in either the Sun Belt Conference or Conference USA.
"This is an awesome honor for Hanley and our program, and it's a true testament to the amount of hard work she has put in during practice and on her own," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "I am very proud of her and with the talent level in our league rising right now with a lot of great players, it even means more. Her body of work for the entire year speaks for itself.
"To be the first Blue Raider to be named as conference player of the year is incredible and she continues to set the bar high for this program going forward!"
The Clarksville, Tenn., native enjoyed great success on the course in her final campaign, boasting a school record 72.4 stroke average on the year as she collected four Top 5 finishes and five Top 10 finishes. In all, Long owns four different school records and sits in the Top 10 in nine other categories in the Blue Raider record book.
Her 72.4 stroke average ranks as the best in Conference USA while she was also the league's highest ranked golfer for a majority of the season, rising as high as No. 31 nationally in the fall and currently sitting at a league-best ranking of No. 107.
"I think the example is now set within our team that with a lot of hard work, this is what can happen," Adams added. "Our younger girls have really looked up to Hanley for the past couple of years with how much she has improved her game, and this is just more proof that all of her hard work is paying off."
Joining Long and making her first appearance as an all-conference honoree is sophomore Sophie Burks, who was voted to the All-Conference USA Third Team following an outstanding sophomore campaign.
The Montgomery, Ala., native improved her play by a highly impressive 2.7 strokes per round this season to post the team's second best stroke average at 74.1.
Burks' was at her best down the stretch as she logged three consecutive Top 10 finishes to close out the regular season, two of which saw her tie for fourth at the River Landing Classic and the Memphis Women's Intercollegiate.
In addition to finishing the year second on the team in stroke average, her two Top 5 finishes, three Top 10 finishes and seven rounds of par or better were also second on the squad behind only Long.
"Sophie is closely following in Hanley's footsteps with the amount of improvement she has achieved on the course in her two years here," Adams stated. "It will be great to watch her and the others grow in the next year and beyond."
Making the duo's feats on the course all more impressive, the pair are standouts in the classroom as well as Long is set to graduate in May with a 4.0 GPA in Organizational Communications while Burks holds a 3.85 GPA in Exercise Science.
While Middle Tennessee's season is likely over following a fifth place team finish at the Conference USA Championship, the Blue Raiders do hope to see Long selected to compete as an individual in the NCAA Regionals during Wednesday's NCAA Women's Golf selection show on the Golf Channel.
Player of the Year
Hanley Long, Middle Tennessee
Freshman of the Year
Jana Melichova, Old Dominion
Most Improved Player
Jillian Farrell, Charlotte
Coach of the Year
Summer Baptiste, UTSA
All-Conference First Team
Cecile Finne-Ipsen, Charlotte
Hanley Long, Middle Tennessee
Lauren Cox, North Texas
Charlotte De Corte, Old Dominion
Ana Gonzalez, UTSA
All-Conference Second Team
Valentina Gilly, FIU
Shelby Brauckmuller, Marshall
Jana Melichova, Old Dominion
Leah Onosato, Old Dominion
Julie Houston, UTSA
All-Conference Third Team
Sierra Stout, Charlotte
Sophie Burks, Middle Tennessee
Sana Tufail, Old Dominion
Lily Downs, UTEP
Mary Joiner, WKU
The Golfer of the Year honor gives Long back-to-back superlative awards after being named C-USA's Most Improved Golfer a season ago, while she also earned her fourth consecutive all-league selection as she was voted to the All-Conference USA First Team for the second consecutive season. Long is the first Blue Raider in the program's 18-year history to win league Golfer of the Year honors in either the Sun Belt Conference or Conference USA.
"This is an awesome honor for Hanley and our program, and it's a true testament to the amount of hard work she has put in during practice and on her own," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "I am very proud of her and with the talent level in our league rising right now with a lot of great players, it even means more. Her body of work for the entire year speaks for itself.
"To be the first Blue Raider to be named as conference player of the year is incredible and she continues to set the bar high for this program going forward!"
The Clarksville, Tenn., native enjoyed great success on the course in her final campaign, boasting a school record 72.4 stroke average on the year as she collected four Top 5 finishes and five Top 10 finishes. In all, Long owns four different school records and sits in the Top 10 in nine other categories in the Blue Raider record book.
Her 72.4 stroke average ranks as the best in Conference USA while she was also the league's highest ranked golfer for a majority of the season, rising as high as No. 31 nationally in the fall and currently sitting at a league-best ranking of No. 107.
"I think the example is now set within our team that with a lot of hard work, this is what can happen," Adams added. "Our younger girls have really looked up to Hanley for the past couple of years with how much she has improved her game, and this is just more proof that all of her hard work is paying off."
Joining Long and making her first appearance as an all-conference honoree is sophomore Sophie Burks, who was voted to the All-Conference USA Third Team following an outstanding sophomore campaign.
The Montgomery, Ala., native improved her play by a highly impressive 2.7 strokes per round this season to post the team's second best stroke average at 74.1.
Burks' was at her best down the stretch as she logged three consecutive Top 10 finishes to close out the regular season, two of which saw her tie for fourth at the River Landing Classic and the Memphis Women's Intercollegiate.
In addition to finishing the year second on the team in stroke average, her two Top 5 finishes, three Top 10 finishes and seven rounds of par or better were also second on the squad behind only Long.
"Sophie is closely following in Hanley's footsteps with the amount of improvement she has achieved on the course in her two years here," Adams stated. "It will be great to watch her and the others grow in the next year and beyond."
Making the duo's feats on the course all more impressive, the pair are standouts in the classroom as well as Long is set to graduate in May with a 4.0 GPA in Organizational Communications while Burks holds a 3.85 GPA in Exercise Science.
While Middle Tennessee's season is likely over following a fifth place team finish at the Conference USA Championship, the Blue Raiders do hope to see Long selected to compete as an individual in the NCAA Regionals during Wednesday's NCAA Women's Golf selection show on the Golf Channel.
Player of the Year
Hanley Long, Middle Tennessee
Freshman of the Year
Jana Melichova, Old Dominion
Most Improved Player
Jillian Farrell, Charlotte
Coach of the Year
Summer Baptiste, UTSA
All-Conference First Team
Cecile Finne-Ipsen, Charlotte
Hanley Long, Middle Tennessee
Lauren Cox, North Texas
Charlotte De Corte, Old Dominion
Ana Gonzalez, UTSA
All-Conference Second Team
Valentina Gilly, FIU
Shelby Brauckmuller, Marshall
Jana Melichova, Old Dominion
Leah Onosato, Old Dominion
Julie Houston, UTSA
All-Conference Third Team
Sierra Stout, Charlotte
Sophie Burks, Middle Tennessee
Sana Tufail, Old Dominion
Lily Downs, UTEP
Mary Joiner, WKU
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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