NEB WGOLF: Huskers head to Indy for Big Ten Championships

Posted By: Sports

sports@klkntv.com

The Nebraska women’s golf team travels to The Fort Golf Resort in Indianapolis for the 2016 Big Ten Championships, April 22-24.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament features six-count-four scoring for the 14-team field on the Pete Dye designed course. Nebraska will open the the tournament by teeing off on hole No. 10 at 8:24 a.m. central time Friday. The Huskers will be faced with a par-72, 6,221-yard layout at The Fort.

The Big Ten Championships feature eight teams in the nation’s top 60 of the latest GolfStat rankings, including five top-50 teams. Northwestern heads to the tournament as the favorite, ranked No. 7 nationally, while No. 34 Ohio State, No. 35 Purdue, No. 40 Michigan State and No. 50 Michigan should be strong contenders. Northwestern and Ohio State shared the team title in 2015.

Live scoring will be available from GolfStat.com.

2016 Big Ten Championships
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Course: The Fort Golf Resort (Par 72, 6,221 Yards)
Start (No. 10): Friday, April 22 – 8:24 a.m. (CT)
(Tee Times): Saturday, April 23 – 7:30 a.m. (CT)
(Tee Times): Sunday, April 24 – 7:30 a.m. (CT)

Participating Teams (14)
Illinois (59)
Indiana (56)
Iowa (77)
Maryland (130)
Michigan (50)
Michigan State (40)
Minnesota (58)
Nebraska (114)
Northwestern (7)
Ohio State (34)
Penn State (89)
Purdue (35)
Rutgers (133)
Wisconsin (71)

Nebraska Lineup
1. Cassie Deeg
2. Morgan Smejkal
3. Cassidy Stelzmiller
4. Haley Thiele
5. Audrey Judd
6. Sarah Pravecek

Senior Trio Leads Huskers to Big Ten Championships
Nebraska seniors Cassidy Stelzmiller, Morgan Smejkal and Cassie Deeg will make their final appearances at the Big Ten Championships this week in Indianapolis.

Deeg will be appearing in her fourth Big Ten Tournament, while playing out of the top spot in the Husker lineup. The senior from Hugo, Minn., owns a team-best 75.42 stroke average this season, while her 76.34 career average ranks No. 2 in Nebraska history. Deeg posted her best Big Ten finish with a tie for 32nd as a freshman in 2013.

Smejkal, a fifth-year senior and graduate student from Columbus, Neb., owns a career-best 75.79 stroke average this season. She will be playing in her second Big Ten Championship. She tied for 55th as a sophomore in 2014.

Stelzmiller, a fifth-year senior and Nebraska graduate student from Placerville, Calif., will play out of the No. 3 position in the Husker lineup. She will make her fourth Big Ten appearance. Her tie for 18th as a sophomore in 2014 is the best Big Ten finish among current Huskers. Stelzmiller ranks fourth on the team with a 77.38 stroke average this season but has been playing her best golf late in the year.

Freshman Haley Thiele, who is tied with Smejkal for the second-best stroke average among the Huskers this season, will play out of the No. 4 spot in the NU lineup. Thiele’s 75.79 stroke average is on pace to set the Nebraska freshman record.

Sophomore Audrey Judd and junior Sarah Pravecek round out Nebraska’s six-count-four lineup at the Big Ten Championships.

Last season, Nebraska finished 13th at the Big Ten Championships with a three-round total of 917 (306-301-304). Northwestern and Ohio State shared the team title at 863, while Purdue finished third at 872. Northwestern’s Sarah Cho earned medalist honors with a 213.

Deeg Earning Place in NU History
Cassie Deeg, who is Nebraska’s top returning golfer from a year ago, owns the second-best career stroke average (76.34) in school history, trailing only 2003 All-American Sarah Sasse (75.92). A three-year starter on the course, Deeg also has been a standout in the classroom and the community. A two-time academic All-Big Ten selection, Deeg was the Huskers’ 2015 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner. She also claimed a prestigious Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award in 2015, while earning her second straight appearance on the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

Smejkal Shining As Senior
Morgan Smejkal is producing the best season of her five-year career for the Big Red. The senior from Columbus, Neb., carries a 75.79 stroke average. Smejkal owns a trio of top-20 finishes, including a career-best tie for 12th (220) at the Chip-N Club Invitational, Oct. 5-6. Her effort at the Chip-N Club followed a tie for 14th with a then-career-best 222 at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge, Sept. 21-23.

She improved her career-best tournament score at her third straight event with a 218 to tie for 20th at the Pinehurst Challenge, Oct. 12-13. Smejkal matched that tournament total by tying for 30th at the Westbrook Spring Invitational, Feb. 21-22.

Smejkal has played major roles in the Nebraska lineup each of the past three seasons but has competed just once at the Big Ten Championships. In 2014, Smejkal was NU’s No. 4 finisher at the tournament, but entered the second round in the top 10. Smejkal has cut nearly six strokes per round off her stroke average (81.56, 25 rounds) from her redshirt freshman season in 2012-13.

Smejkal’s leadership on and off the course has been a constant for the Big Red. A three-time academic All-Big Ten choice, Smejkal is also the only student-athlete in program history to earn the Beatrice Dierks Rohman Scholarship on two occasions. Smejkal claimed a prestigious Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award in 2014. She is also a two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. She earned her bachelor’s degree as a marketing and management major at Nebraska in December of 2015.

Stelzmiller Strong On, Off Course
Cassidy Stelzmiller, a fifth-year senior from Placerville, Calif., has joined Cassie Deeg in Nebraska’s lineup at each of the last three Big Ten Championships. In fact, Stelzmiller’s tie for 18th at the 2014 Big Ten Championships, is the highest finish at the conference tournament by any current Husker.

In 2014-15, Stelzmiller finished with a career-best 76.76 stroke average, which was more than a three-stroke per round improvement from her sophomore season and nearly five strokes better than her redshirt freshman campaign.

A two-time WGCA Scholastic All-American and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Stelzmiller earned her bachelor’s degree as an accounting major at Nebraska in December 2015. She also earned a prestigious Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award in 2016.

Sophomore Steps Up
Sophomore Audrey Judd is building off a solid freshman season to become a fixture in Nebraska’s top five in 2015-16. Judd, who battled a foot injury in the middle of the season, produced a 78.07 stroke average on the year and tied for 70th at the 2015 Big Ten Championships.

In her second season, Judd has competed in all 29 rounds in the Husker lineup, producing a 78.03 stroke average. She tied for 17th with a career-best 226 at Nebraska’s Chip-N Club Invitational, Oct. 5-6.

Thiele Contributing in Big Way
Nebraska’s six returning golfers are joined by one of the top recruits in school history with the addition of Haley Thiele.

Thiele has made an immediate impact, tying for second on the team with a 75.79 stroke average. Thiele is well ahead of Nebraska freshman record pace (76.94, Kate White, 2006-07), following a freshman record 209 at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown, Oct. 25-27. Her performance in Las Vegas included a Nebraska-freshman record 67 in the opening round, which tied for the second-best round ever by a Husker golfer.

The freshman from Wahoo, Neb., capped a tremendous junior career by winning the 2015 Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship in August.

Thiele led the tournament from start to finish after firing an opening-round 67. She finished with a four-round total of 287 to claim her third consecutive top-15 finish at the Trusted Choice Big “I”, including a fourth-place showing in 2014. She is just the second Husker in history to win the Big “I”, joining current professional Maddie Shiels. Thiele is also the first Husker in history to post three top-15 finishes at the event.

The Big “I” was the final piece to a big finish to the summer of 2015 for Thiele, who also tied for third a week earlier at the Optimist International Junior Championship, just a few weeks after tying for fifth at the North & South Junior Amateur.

Thiele’s talent was not limited to the junior circuit. The two-time Nebraska Girls Amateur of the Year also produced three top-15 finishes at the Nebraska Class C Boys High School State Tournament. As a senior, her fourth-place finish was the best ever by a girl at a boys state golf tournament. She also led her Bishop Neumann team to a runner-up finish.

Big Red Face Solid Schedule
The Huskers faced a challenging fall schedule that opened with the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, in Manhattan, Kan., Sept. 7-8. It marked the first time since 2006-07 that the Big Red opened the season on the road. The Huskers played their only other tournament in September with a return to the GolfWeek Conference Challenge in Wolcott, Colo., Sept. 21-23.

Nebraska made its only home appearance of the year at the 2015 Chip-N Club Invitational at the Country Club of Lincoln, Oct. 5-6.

The Huskers headed to North Carolina for the Pinehurst Challenge, Oct. 12-13, before wrapping up their fall schedule at the UNLV Collegiate Showdown, Oct. 25-27.

The spring schedule teed off with the Peg Barnard Stanford Invitational, Feb. 13-14, 2016. The Huskers traveled to the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 21-22, marking the fifth consecutive year that the Huskers competed at Westbrook.

The Big Red returned to Arizona to compete in the Clover Cup in Mesa, March 11-13. It marked the fourth straight season that the Huskers’ have competed in Notre Dame’s annual event in Arizona.

The highlight of Nebraska’s regular-season spring schedule includes a trip to Honolulu for the Dr. Donnis Thompson Hawaii Invitational, March 22-23. The Huskers, who traveled to Hawaii for a regular-season tournament for the second consecutive season, enjoyed Spring Break on the islands.

Nebraska closed the regular season with a journey to Napa, Calif., for the Silverado Showdown, April 3-5. After making five trips west to fill their spring schedule, the Huskers will make their first trip east to compete in the 2016 Big Ten Championships at The Fort Golf Resort in Indianapolis, April 22-24. It will be the second straight season for the Big Ten Tournament at The Fort.

Nebraska hopes to contend for its 12th NCAA Regional bid since 1994. NCAA Regional competitions will be held in Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford), Bryan-College Station, Texas (Texas A&M), Baton Rouge, La. (LSU) and Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama) May 5-7, before the NCAA Championships are held in Eugene, Ore., May 20-25.

Huskers Set Pace in Classroom
Nebraska leads the nation with 67 WGCA Scholastic All-Americans since 1989.

Cassidy Stelzmiller earned the second WGCA Scholastic All-America award of her career in 2015. She also claimed the honor in 2013. Stelzmiller, who was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2013 and 2015, joined Emily Gillman in capturing the WGCA Scholastic honor. It was the first award of the freshman Gillman’s collegiate career.

Stelzmiller joined Cassie Deeg, Morgan Smejkal, Jordan Chael and Sarah Pravecek in earning academic All-Big Ten honors in 2015. Overall, Nebraska owns one of the richest academic traditions in all of collegiate sports with a nation-leading 321 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans across all teams and all sports. NU also leads the nation with 17 NCAA Top Ten Award winners.