Sept. 13, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Three Notre Dame women’s golfers were selected to the prestigious National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-Scholar team for the 2001-02 season. The trio includes returning junior Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill.) along with graduated seniors Lauren Fuchs (Lexington, Ky.) and Kristen McMurtrie (Calgary, Alb.).
In all, the NGCA recognized 232 women’s collegiate golfers from Division I, II and III were recognized for this prestigious honor. The criteria for selection to the All-Scholar team are some of the most stringent of all college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 (3.40 for Junior and Seniors) and student-athletes must have competed in at least 66% of the college’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
Byrne, who owns a 3.50 grade point average in American Studies, played in all nine tournaments during the season and finished third among Irish golfers with an 81.50 average for the year. Her top finish for the season came in the Notre Dame Invitational where she tied for 10th overall. She recently won the 2002 Notre Dame Campus Championship after finishing second prior to the start of the 2001 season.
Fuchs, who graduated in May with a Management Information Systems degree, had a 3.88 grade point average for her four years at Notre Dame and was a three-time winner of Notre Dame’s Rockne Student-Athlete Award. During the 2001-02 campaign, Fuchs played in eight of the team’s nine tournaments and turned in an 84.67 average. For her Notre Dame career, she played in 21 tournaments with an 85.08 average.
For McMurtrie, this was her second appearance on the NGCA All-Scholar team as she was also selected following the 2000-01 season. Notre Dame’s team captain in 2001-02, the Calgary, Alberta native graduated in May with a degree in Finance and had a 3.56 GPA. For the 2001-02 year, McMurtrie played in eight of nine tournaments during the season and was second on the team with an 81.37 average. Her top finish was a tie for eighth at the Snowbird Invitational in March as she helped Notre Dame to a second-place finish among 22 teams. During her Irish golf career, McMurtrie played in 34 events and had an 82.96 average.
The women’s golf team opens the 2002-03 season on Saturday, Sept. 21 when the Irish travel to Michigan State to compete in the 54-hole Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.