ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Sophomore
Maria Perakis (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) was named a First-Team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete per an announcement by the league office Friday. Fifth-year
Megan Welch (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) and Senior
Mara Flaherty (Naperville, Ill./North) were both named Honorable Mention MVC Scholar-Athletes.
Perakis was named MVC Scholar-Athlete for the first time. Welch was named an MVC Scholar-Athlete for the fourth consecutive season. Welch has been an honorable mention in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2022-23 and was named First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete in 2021-22. Flaherty was named to her second MVC Scholar-Athlete team after being nominated to the First Team in 2021-22.
Perakis' nomination as First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete is the BU's 38th all-time First-Team honoree, breaking a tie with Southern Illinois for the most in league history.
Perakis, a biochemistry major with a perfect 4.00 grade point average, led the Braves and was 15th in the Valley, averaging 77.26 strokes per round. Her average round score is the 26th-lowest single-season round score in Bradley Women's Golf history. Perakis was one of four Braves to play in all 30 rounds this season and had 21 rounds in the 70s with a season-low of 73.
Welch, a high school mathematics education major with a 3.69 grade point average, maintained the second-lowest average round score on the team, averaging 77.62 strokes, good for 19th lowest in the MVC. Welch finished was one of five Braves to finish in the top 10 in a golf tournament this season, finishing eighth in the Bradley Coyote Creek Classic. She had 12 rounds in the 70s and tied a team-best with a season-low of 70.
Flaherty, a manufacturing engineering major with a 3.97 grade point average, averaged 78.63 strokes per round and finished tied for second in the Bradley Coyote Creek Classic. Flaherty was one of four Braves to complete all 30 rounds with 16 rounds in the 70s. She was one of two Braves to complete a round in 70 strokes, the team low.
Since 2000, 20 Bradley student-athletes have garnered 35 First-Team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete awards, nine higher than Illinois State's 26 first-team selections since 2000.
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CSC (College Sports Communicators) standards for its Academic All-America® program. Nominated student-athletes must have participated in the MVC championship or 50 percent of the team's tournaments in season -- with legitimate athletic credentials -- and at least a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Nominees in grad school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or better both as an undergrad AND in graduate school.
