Jennifer Kupcho from Wake Forest, Stanford’s Andrea Lee, Lauren Stephenson of Alabama and UCLA’s Lilia Vu are the four nominees for the Class of 2018 Honda Sport Award 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”. The winner of the sport award 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.
The nominees were chosen by a combination of NCAA Championship finishes and national golf rankings. The Honda Sport Award winner for Golf will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Kupcho, a junior 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 is also a three-time All-ACC honoree.
Lee is a sophomore hailing from Hermosa Beach, Calif., and finished tied for runner-up at the 2018 NCAA National Championship. She is a two-time WGCA first-team All-American and two-time first-team All-Pac-12 honoree. She finished with nine top 10 finishes on the year and overall has six career wins, including four during the 2017-18 season. This is her second straight nomination for the Honda Sport Award for Golf after earning the nod as a freshman.
Stephenson is the 2018 Golfstat Cup winner for the best scoring average on the season versus par with at least 20 full rounds (69.76). A native of Lexington, S.C., the junior posted the lowest scoring average in the history of the Golfstat Cup this season and finished tied for seventh at the NCAA Championship. A first-team WGCA All-American, she led Alabama to an NCAA Championship runner-up finish and set a single-season school record in scoring average.
Vu was named the 2017-18 PING WGCA Player of the Year and finished second in the Golfstat Cup rankings. The junior from Fountain Valley, Calif., finished tied for seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championship after capturing four individual championships this season and eight career victories- a new UCLA school record. She is a three-time WGCA first-team All-American and first-team All-Pac-12. She finished with nine top 10s this season and set a school record with 13 rounds in the 60s.
Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport Award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2018 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The CWSA, celebrating its 42nd year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their 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.