Five Braves Earn WGCA All-American Scholar Honors

Women's Golf 7/6/2022 11:19:00 AM

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Bradley Women's Golf matched a school record with five individuals named Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars according to a recent announcement by the WGCA, with Mara Flaherty, Kathryn McNease, Sarah Nacos, Maria Perakis and Megan Welch each earning the honor.

Flaherty and Welch garnered the award for a third consecutive year, while Nacos earned the honor for the second time in her career and the combo of McNease and Perakis were both first-time recipients.

Bradley has had at least four WGCA All-American Scholars each of the past four years and six of the last seven seasons. This year's five honorees matched the most in school history (2019-20 & 2011-12), in addition to tying for the third most in the Missouri Valley Conference with Evansville and Indiana State each having six winners.

The WGCA All American-Scholar team included 1,485 women's collegiate golfers from NCAA Division I, II & III. The criteria for selection required a minimum 3.50 grade point average and participation in at least 50 percent of the rounds scheduled during the regular season.

A manufacturing engineering major with a 3.96 cumulative grade point average, Flaherty was third on the team and 21^st in the MVC with a 77.86 stroke average this season and was a First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete. She was one of three Braves to play in all 29 rounds and had 18 rounds in the 70's, including a season-best 72 in the second round of the Coyote Creek Classic to tie the low round of her career. Flaherty fired 75 or better in 10 rounds and currently ranks 11^th in Bradley history with a 78.30 career stroke average. She was among Bradley's top three individuals in seven of 10 events in 2021-22.

Welch is a mathematics education major with a 3.66 cumulative grade point average. A First-Team All-MVC performer and First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete selection in 2021-22, she paced the Braves and ranked eighth in the Valley with a 76.24 stroke average which is 15^th among Bradley season marks. Welch was Bradley's top finisher in five outings this past season and earned a team-high four top-10 finishes, which included tying for eighth at the 2022 MVC Championship. Carding 26 rounds in the 70's or better, Welch posted the sixth longest streak of rounds in the 70's after opening the 2021-22 campaign with a streak of 21 rounds in the 70's or better and her career stroke average of 77.83 currently ranks sixth in school history.

Nacos owned a career-best 78.72 stroke average, playing a career-high 18 rounds this past year. She fired 12 rounds in the 70's, including matching a career-best 75 in the first round of the Redbird Spring Invitational where she tied for 16^th to collect her second career top-20 finish. The biology major with a 3.77 cumulative grade point average ranks 18^th in school history with a 79.41 career stroke average.

The 2021-22 MVC Newcomer of the Year, Perakis had the lowest stroke average for a freshman in the MVC in 2021-22 with her 76.52 scoring mark ranking 11^th in the league and second on the team. She posted the third-lowest season average by a Bradley freshman, with her average 17^th among Bradley season marks. Perakis took home MVC Golfer of the Week honors after she tied for 10^th at the Little Rock Golf Classic, matching the lowest 54-hole score by a Bradley freshman with a 219. A biochemistry major, she owns a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average.

McNease appeared in all but one tournament during her rookie season and ranked fourth on the team with a 78.46 stroke average. She closed the year 23^rd in the MVC in stroke average and second among MVC freshmen behind only Perakis. McNease had 20 rounds in the 70's or better during her freshman campaign, closing out the Payne Stewart Memorial with a season-best round of 74 to tie for 20^th overall. A biology major, she owns a 3.67 cumulative grade point average.

Bradley's five WGCA All-American Scholars pushed the programs total to 49 honorees over the last 13 seasons.

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