Jennifer Kupcho, a junior from Wake Forest University, was named the Honda Sport Award winner for Golf as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 42 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. With this honor, Kupcho becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2018 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 25, 2018, in downtown Los Angeles.
Kupcho was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Andrea Lee (Stanford), Lauren Stephenson (Alabama) and Lilia Vu (UCLA).
"It is a great honor to win the Honda Award and it is exciting to be among the greatest college golfers who have won it in the past,“ said Kupcho. “To be the first player from Wake Forest to win the award is awesome and I could not have been able to win with this award without the amazing support of my teammates and coaches.”
Kupcho hailing from Westminster, Colo., was the 2018 NCAA Championship individual medalist after shooting a 4-under back nine to secure the title with a two-stroke victory. She is the first wire-to-wire NCAA Champion since 2002 and as the 2017 NCAA runner-up, became first player to win the title after a second-place finish the year before since 1990.
A two-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) first-team All-American, she shot a school record round of 64 at the NCAA Regionals and tied her own Wake Forest 54-hole scoring record with a 15-under 201 to win the regionals. She finished the season with a school record 70.60 scoring average and had six top five finished on the season. She finished in fifth-place in the Golfstat Cup standings and was name to the 2018 Curtis Cup team.
“Jennifer has worked so hard to be the best player she can be,” stated WFU head coach Dianne Dailey. “All of those long hours paid off when she won the NCAA Regional and the NCAA Championship this season. To be recognized for her work and accomplishments by being the Honda Award recipient is very deserving, rewarding and exciting.”
Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year.
The CWSA, in its 42nd year, honors the nation’s top NCAA women athletes recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.