Strand Captures All-Big Ten Honors

Nebraska’s Kelli Ann Strand claimed second-team All-Big Ten honors when the conference announced its annual awards for women’s golf on Wednesday, April 26.

Strand, a true freshman from Challis, Idaho, has produced one of the best seasons by a Husker in history in 2022-23. She owns a school-record 71.94 stroke average while competing in all 35.5 competitive team rounds for the Huskers. Her stroke average is not only on pace to shatter the school freshman record (73.90, Kate Smith, 2016-17) but also Smith’s overall school record of 72.18 set in a COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign, when Smith owned the Big Ten’s best stroke average. An All-American and Big Ten champion for the Huskers in 2020-21, Smith owns five of the top-six season stroke averages in school history.

Strand, who is ranked among the top 115 players individually by both Golfweek and GolfStat, is coming off a tie for 20th in her first Big Ten Championship over the weekend, when she finished with a 54-hole total of 223 (74-72-77) on a par-71, 6,045-yard layout at the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was Strand’s ninth top-20 finish in 12 tournaments this season.

She has produced six top-10 finishes, including a tournament title at the Green Wave Classic to open her college career (Sept. 12-13). She set the school 54-hole record with a 202 (-14) on the 6,158-yard, par-72 layout at the Bayou Oaks South Course in New Orleans, including a Nebraska freshman record 65 (-7) in the second round. She won the tournament title by two strokes over LSU’s two-time All-American and three-time Palmer Cup participant Latanna Stone. Strand’s performance in New Orleans helped the Huskers to a school-record 835, smashing the previous team mark by eight strokes (843, Westbrook Spring Invitational, 2018).

Strand added a top-five finish with a 213 (-3) to help the Huskers to a team title at the Badger Invitational (Sept. 18-20). She made it three top-five finishes in a row to open her career by tying for third with a 215 (-1) to help the Huskers to a runner-up team finish at the Dale McNamara Invitational (Oct. 10-11). She helped Nebraska to another runner-up team finish to open the spring at the FAU Paradise Invitational, tying for seventh individually with a 211 (-5).

She notched her fourth top-five finish of the year with a 209 (-7) to lead Nebraska to a tournament title at the Westbrook Spring Invitational (Feb. 26-27). She added her sixth top-10 finish of the year by tying for ninth with a 208 (-8) at the Mountain View Collegiate (March 17-19).

Strand’s All-Big Ten recognition marked Nebraska’s third consecutive season with an all-conference honoree, joining Kirsten Baete (2nd team, 2022) and Kate Smith (1st team, 2021).

Graduate student Megan Whittaker (Elkhorn, Neb.) added recognition as Nebraska’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner for the second time in her career. Whittaker, who also claimed the honor in 2020-21, was recently named a Heart & Soul Award winner across all of Nebraska’s varsity sports for going above and beyond in her commitment to all phases of the Husker Life Skills program. 

2022-23 Big Ten Women’s Golf Awards

Player of the Year: Crystal Wang, Graduate, Illinois 

Freshman of the Year: Dianna Lee, Freshman, Northwestern 

Coach of the Year: Emily Fletcher, Northwestern

 

All-Big Ten

First Team (8)

Crystal Wang, Graduate, Illinois

Nicha Kanpai, Freshman, Maryland

Patricie Mackova, Junior, Maryland

Dianna Lee, Freshman, Northwestern

Jieni Li, Junior, Northwestern

Lauryn Nguyen, Sophomore, Northwestern

Kelly Sim, Graduate, Northwestern

Caley McGinty, Junior, Ohio State

 

Second Team (8)

Hailey Borja, Senior, Michigan

Monet Chun, Junior, Michigan

Valentina Rossi, Junior, Michigan State

Isabella McCauley, Freshman, Minnesota

Kelli Ann Strand, Freshman, Nebraska

Kary Hollenbaugh, Freshman, Ohio State

Lauren Peter, Senior, Ohio State

Momo Sugiyama, Sophomore, Purdue

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award

Crystal Wang, Graduate, Illinois

Jordan Amelon, Fifth Year, Iowa

Alexis Florio, Senior, Indiana

Angela Garvin, Senior, Maryland

Anika Dy, Senior, Michigan

Leah Herzog, Senior, Minnesota

Shannon Kennedy, Sophomore, Michigan State

Megan Whittaker, Graduate, Nebraska

Jennifer Cai, Junior, Northwestern

Jillian Bourdage, Sophomore, Ohio State

Isha Dhruva, Senior, Penn State

Danielle du Toit, Graduate, Purdue

Nicole Ewing, Senior, Rutgers

Emily Lauterbach, Seniors, Wisconsin