Chun Named B1G Freshman of the Year; U-M Trio Earns All-Big Ten Honors
4/28/2021 1:00:00 PM | Women's Golf
• Watch: Chun Making Fast Impression for Wolverines
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- University of Michigan women's golfer Monet Chun was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while she (first team) and teammates junior Ashley Lau (first team) and sophomore Hailey Borja (second team) were named to All-Big Ten teams on Wednesday (April 28). Additionally, Lau was U-M's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
Chun becomes the second Wolverine to earn the conference's rookie honor and first for U-M in 25 years after Katy Loy earned the accolade in 1996. In addition, the Maize and Blue had three All-Big Ten selections for the second time in program history. In 2005, Laura Olin and Brianna Broderick were named to the first team, while Ali Stinson earned second-team honors.
Chun was one of four Wolverines to start all six tournaments after the fall season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In those six events, she finished as the second-best Wolverine in every event, posting five top-15 and three top-10 individual finishes. She has averaged 73.06 per round, which is second best on the team. She has posted three sub-par rounds, including a career-low 70 (-2) in the first round of the Indiana Invitational (April 17-18) and the second round of the PING/ASU Invitational (March 26-28).
Chun posted a career-low-tying 215 (-1) tally at the Big Ten Championships (April 23-25) to record not only the fourth sub-par 54-hole total in program history, but the lowest U-M freshman tally all-time.
With eight sub-par rounds, Lau leads U-M with a 72.00 per scoring average. She led the Wolverines in four of six events as all four of those events were top-10 finishes, including her first medalist honor at the Indiana Invitational with a 212 (-4) tally -- which helped her to her first Big Ten Golfer of the Week accolade. Overall, she holds the top three 54-hole tournament totals this season, including a career-low 211 (-5) at the Big Ten Championships, the second-lowest tally in program history.
Borja started all six events and has carried a career-best pace of 73.69 per round as she has four sub-par tallies and two of even par. She earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors after she tied her career-low with a 69 (-3) to win the match vs. Florida Gulf Coast (Jan. 18). Borja posted four top-25 individual finishes and helped the Wolverines to a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships after tying for 16th.
U-M, which has posted eight straight top-five team finishes dating back to last season, will now await its NCAA Regional placement with a live reveal today at 2 p.m. on the Golf Channel. There are four NCAA regional sites -- LSU (Louisiana University Club), Ohio State (Scarlet Course), Louisville (Louisville Golf Club) and Stanford (Stanford Golf Course).
2021 Big Ten Women's Golf Awards
Big Ten Golfer of the Year: Irene Kim, Northwestern
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Monet Chun, Michigan
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Diana Cantu, Maryland
All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
Virunpat Olankitkunchai, Maryland
Laura Van Respaille, Maryland
Monet Chun, Michigan
Ashley Lau, Michigan
Valery Plata, Michigan State
Kate Smith, Nebraska
Irene Kim, Northwestern
Aneka Seumanutafa, Ohio State
Second Team
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Crystal Wang, Illinois
Xiaolin Tian, Maryland
Hailey Borja, Michigan
Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State
Yurika Tanida, Michigan State
Kelly Sim, Northwestern
Thitapa Pakdeesettakul, Purdue
Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Angela Aung, Indiana
Morgan Goldstein, Iowa
Laura Van Respaille, Maryland
Ashley Lau, Michigan
Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State
Grace Curran, Minnesota
Megan Whittaker, Nebraska
Brooke Riley, Northwestern
Kristin Jamieson, Ohio State
Megan McLean, Penn State
Kan Bunnabodee, Purdue
Maeve Rossi, Rutgers
Bobbi Stricker, Wisconsin
