19 May 2003Nelson Repeats as IWU Women’s Golf “MVP”
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- For the third straight season, Gail Nelson (Frankfort, New Lenox Lincoln-Way HS) has been chosen as the "Most Valuable Player" for the Illinois Wesleyan University women's golf team.
Nelson, who graduated in May, finished tied for eighth in the NCAA Division III championships last week with a four-day total of 331, just 16 strokes behind the individual champion. Nelson finished 20th in the national tourney as a junior and 25th as a freshman.
Nelson, the medalist of the 2002 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship for the team champions, averaged 80.6 for 20 rounds and was the team’s low scorer in seven of the 12 tourneys in which she played. In her previous three seasons she finished ninth (1999), sixth (2000), and second (2001) at the CCIW tourney.
Juniors Paige Lewis (Normal, West HS) and Stephanie Morton (Elgin, Larkin HS) were chosen as the team co-captains for the 2003-04 season. Morton averaged 83.6 strokes over 18 rounds and Lewis had an average of 91.0 in 17 rounds, posting her season-best of 81 in the IWU spring tournament on April 18.
Head coach Kathy Niepagen awarded letters to nine players. They are, with hometowns and high schools:
SENIORS ? Stacy Kolegas (Downers Grove, South HS), Gail Nelson (Frankfort, Lincoln-Way HS).
JUNIOR ? Katie Campbell (Mukwanago, Wis., Hoffman Estates, Ill., HS), Paige Lewis (Normal, West HS), Stephanie Morton (Elgin, Larkin HS).
SOPHOMORES - Erin Williams (Quincy, Notre Dame HS).
FRESHMAN ? Catherine Briggs (Boca Raton, Fla., Dreyfoos School of the Arts), Ashley Higginson (Pekin HS), Megan Teschner (Barrington HS).
Four Announce for IWU
Four high school student-athletes have indicated they will attend Illinois Wesleyan to continue their academic careers and plan to participate on the women's golf team. The incoming IWU players are Alison Mayer of Glenview, Ill. (Glenbrook South HS), Andrea Johanns of Farmer City, Ill. (Blue Ridge HS), Alison Schmale of St. Libory, Ill. (Freeburg HS), and Bridget Schott of Sterling, Ill. (HS).
IWU’s Niepagen Earns League Honor
By a vote of the league’s coaches, Illinois Wesleyan’s Kathy Niepagen has been selected as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin’s first-ever “Coach of the Year” in women’s golf.
Niepagen, who has been the Titans’ coach since 1997, led her team to its first ever league championship back in October. The Titans shot a collective score of 679 at the Pontiac (Ill.) Elks Club with Gail Nelson taking individual medalist honors with a two day score of 152.
Niepagen was selected as the NCAA Division III national “Coach of the Year” in 2000 when she led the Titans to a sixth place finish in the national meet and served as the meet director for that tournament, which was held at Bloomington’s Prairie Vista Golf Course.
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, (309) 556-3206