USF Athletics

Three Bulls Named WGCA All-American Scholars

July 03, 2018

TAMPA, JULY 3, 2018 – USF's Diana Gonzalez Pinto, Mariale Merchan and Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon have been recognized as Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars for 2017-18.

The WGCA released its All-American Scholars list on Tuesday. Criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics and requirements include a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.50.

Gonzalez Pinto, Merchan and Phongpaiboon all were named to the USF Athletics Honor Roll after helping the program post a record term GPA of 3.11 in the spring, which marked its record seventh straight term with above a combined GPA of 3.0.

The women's golf team led all USF sports programs with a cumulative GPA of 3.53 after the spring 2018 term. USF women's golf also received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning a high score in the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation. USF women's golf earned a perfect multi-year APR score of 1,000 for the fifth straight year and eighth time overall to rank among the top 10 percent nationally in APR performance in its respective sport.

Gonzalez Pinto participated in commencement ceremonies this spring and became one of 75 USF-student athletes to graduate during the 2017-18 school year.

View the complete list of WGCA All-American Scholars HERE.
 
About USF Women's Golf
Eighth-year head coach Erika Brennan recently completed her first spring season with USF after two seasons of leading the Southern Mississippi women's golf program. Juniors Natalia Villavicencio and Maria "Nani" Merchan highlighted the 2017-18 season, combining to post four top-10 performances and 11 top-25 finishes, including eight in the spring.

For the latest information on USF women's golf, follow the team on Twitter @USFWGolf and Facebook.