Three Pioneers Named to WGCA All-America Scholar Team

Tusculum College women’s golfers Sara Howard, Calley Lawson and Alec Cunningham have been named to the 2013-2014 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Division II All-American Scholar Team.

Criteria for the WGCA All-America Scholar Team include: having a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 and have participated in 50 percent of the team’s competitive rounds.

The Pioneers boast an impressive 3.41 team grade point average, which was the sixth highest of Tusculum’s 15 intercollegiate sports this year and one of the best amongst the 12 South Atlantic Conference women’s golf programs.

Howard returns to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team for a fourth straight year with her 3.58 GPA, majoring in biology.

The Knoxville, Tenn. graduate led the Pioneers in scoring with her 80.19 stroke average (8th in TC history), while earning a spot on the All-South Atlantic Conference second team. She played in all 21 rounds where she posted seven top-20 finishes, including four in the top-10. She finished fourth at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational and seventh at the Tusculum Fall Classic. In her final home event at Link Hills Country Club, Howard tied for ninth place at the Agnes McAmis Memorial. She carded rounds of 82-84-83=249 to finish sixth at the SAC Championship in Sevierville, Tenn. as she earned SAC All-Tournament honors for a second straight year.

The South Doyle High School graduate finishes her career at Tusculum with an 80.86 scoring average, which is the third lowest in school history. Her 85 competitive rounds at Tusculum are a new school record.

Howard is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the Dean’s List. She was also this year’s recipient of the Bob Dibble “Spirit of the Game” Award, which is presented by the league’s women’s golf coaches and named in honor of Tusculum’s head coach. She is the recipient of The Howard S. Emerick, II ’72 Endowed Scholarship, The Charlotte W. Newcombe Endowed Scholarship and The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, Inc. Scholarship.

Lawson, a sophomore from Gaithersburg, Maryland, has a 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in special education and early elementary education. She returns to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team for a second straight year. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District 3 Women’s At-Large first team.

Lawson played in all 10 events this year for the Pioneers where she posted an 88.24 scoring average and recorded a pair of top-30 finishes. She tied for 23rd place at the Agnes McAmis Memorial and finished 30th at the Tusculum Fall Classic.

She was the 2013-14 recipient of the Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award, which goes to the Tusculum student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Lawson is a member of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, Tusculum Dean’s List, Tusculum President’s List and the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. She was the 2012-2013 recipient of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award. Lawson is the recipient of The Class of 1932 Endowed Scholarship and The Dorothy Carter Sander ’32 Endowed Scholarship.

Cunningham, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn. (Catholic HS), is making her third appearance on the WGCA All-America Scholar Team. She finished third on the team with her 85.56 scoring average in her eight events, including one top-20 performance. She tied for 14th place at the Tusculum Fall Classic with rounds of 81 and 75 for a two-day score of 156.

Cunningham 84.35 career scoring average is presently the 10th lowest in program history.

Cunningham is majoring in journalism with a 3.83 GPA and is a member of the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, TC Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List and the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. She is the recipient of The Francis J. Nanarone ’52 Endowed Scholarship and The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, Inc. Scholarship.

TusculumCollege, located in Greeneville, Tenn., is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of 12 colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.