MELBOURNE, Fla. – Marie Coors of Saint Leo University has been named the 2016-17 Sunshine State Conference Woman of the Year. The NCAA Division II Women’s Golf National Champion becomes the second Lion to win the award this decade.
Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Athletic Communication Directors, and Faculty Athletic Representatives from each of the league's nine member institutions chose Coors from a pool of nominees. Candidates were scored based on the NCAA's Woman of the Year award.
The Gross-Zimmern, Germany native becomes the first woman to win all three of the SSC’s major women’s awards: Woman of the Year, Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year. Coors took home all three awards this season, becoming the fifth woman to be named Woman of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year1 in the same year. Before Coors, no student-athlete had won Woman of the Year and Athlete of the Year.
The senior boasts a myriad of achievements both on and off the course in 2016-17. Most notably, Coors took individual national champion honors at the 2017 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship in Findlay, Ohio. Shortly following the championship, she became the 23rd SSC athlete to be named Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Division II Golfer of the Year.
Coors won three tournaments during her 2016-17 campaign with 10 top five finishes in 12 tournaments. Following a runner-up performance at the league championship, an event she won in 2014 and 2016, SSC coaches named her Conference Golfer of the Year. She remains the only Lion to win Golfer of the Year and is the fifth athlete to win the award twice2. In regional play, Coors placed third at super regional, qualifying for nationals as an individual. Coors repeats as an All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American selection from 2016.
In 2017, CoSIDA honored Coors as the At-Large Women’s Academic All-American of the Year and repeats as a First Team Academic All-American. An economics major, she graduated from Saint Leo in April with a 4.00-grade point average. Coors was a four-time recipient of the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and recently earned Saint Leo's Clara McDonald Olson Scholastic Excellence Award. Members of the graduating class with the highest GPA attained over four years receive this honor.
Before she took the to the course at the 2017 NCAA Championship, the NCAA bestowed upon her the Elite 90 award for Division II women’s golf. Student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average who are participating at a NCAA Championship finals site collect the Elite 90 Award. Coors the first Lion to receive the award and the 16th out of the Sunshine State Conference since the Elite 90 program's inception in 2009-10.
On campus and in the community, the perennial All-American remains active. Coors is a member of Saint Leo’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the university’s Accounting Club. She also volunteers with Saint Leo’s Make-A-Wish campaign. Off campus, Coors donates her time to Northbridge Church and Grace Lutheran Church.
SSC Woman of the Year Winners Since 2005-06
2016-17: Marie Coors, Saint Leo University
2015-16: Rebecca Matthews, Lynn University
2014-15: Linda Fritschken, Barry University
2013-14: Ellen Chambers, Lynn University
2012-13: Lauren Boudreau, Nova Southeastern University
2011-12: Grace Collins, Barry University
2010-11: Barbara Pocza, Barry University
2009-10: Maria Garcia-Austt, Nova Southeastern University / Lydee Benoit, Eckerd Collete
2008-09: Shyla Rider, Barry
2007-08: Virginia Davenport, Saint Leo University
2006-07: Kelly Morrisroe, Eckerd
2005-06: Greta Trotman, Barry University
1Linda Fritschken, Barry (2014-15), Ellen Chambers, Lynn (2013-14), Barbara Pocza, Barry (2010-11), Shyla Rider, Barry (2008-09), Greta Trotman, Barry (2005-06)
2Jessica Bradley, Lynn (2014-15), Sandra Changkija, Nova Southeastern (2010-11), Charlotte Campbell, Rollins (2004,2006), and Jennifer Beames, Rollins (2000, 2003) have all been named Golfer of the Year twice.