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17
Young Huskers Grow As Leaders in 2014-15
A young Nebraska women’s golf team showed progress
throughout the 2014-15 season. While stroke averages
continued to fall for all of Nebraska’s returning players, true
freshmen Emily Gillman and Audrey Judd made impacts on the
Husker lineup, raising the hopes for the immediate future of
Coach Robin Krapfl’s program.
Nebraska’s three-player junior class of Cassie Deeg,
Cassidy Stelzmiller and Morgan Smejkal provided excellent
leadership on and off the course for a Husker squad that
competed without any seniors in 2014-15.
“Our junior class provided a lot of quality leadership for
our team,” Krapfl said. “They really had to step up and try to
act like seniors a year early, which is not an easy thing to do.”
Deeg, who climbed to No. 2 in Nebraska history with a 76.60
career stroke average, produced the best statistical season of
her career with a 75.90 average. The junior from Hugo, Minn.,
earned three top-10 finishes on the season, including a seasonbest tie for fourth at the Chip-N Club Invitational to open the
year. She added ties for ninth in back-to-back tournaments to
close the fall at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate and the Rainbow
Wahine Invitational.
Deeg closed her third season as one of the top golfers
in Nebraska’s lineup with a tie for 41st at the Big Ten
Championships at The Fort Golf Resort in Indianapolis. Deeg
was NU’s No. 2 finisher at the Big Ten Championships, trailing
only sophomore Jordan Chael’s tie for 32nd. Chael, who led the
Huskers with a 75.90 stroke average, elected to leave the NU
program at the conclusion of the season.
Stelzmiller continued to show major improvements in her
game as a junior. The fourth-year golfer from Placerville, Calif.,
posted a career-best 76.76 stroke average, marking a 3.13
stroke per round improvement over her sophomore campaign
when she was Nebraska’s No. 2 finisher (tied for 18th) at
the 2014 Big Ten Championships. Stelzmiller’s junior season
featured a pair of top-15 finishes, highlighted by a tie for ninth
with Deeg at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational to close the fall.
Smejkal continued to make similar strides in her game.
The junior from Columbus, Neb., finished with a 77.04 stroke
average to slash 2.37 strokes per round from her sophomore
season average. Smejkal produced a pair of top-25 finishes on
the year, including a tie for 13th at the Chip-N Club Invitational
and a tie for 13th at the Rainbow Wahine Invite.
Nebraska’s junior trio also excelled off the course. Smejkal
earned academic All-Big Ten honors for the third straight
season, while becoming the first Husker to claim the Beatrice
Dierks Rohman Memorial Scholarship in back-to-back years. A
Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award winner in
2014, Smejkal added a second straight selection to the Tom
Osborne Citizenship Team in 2015.
Deeg earned her second straight appearance on the
academic All-Big Ten squad and her second consecutive
selection to the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team as well. A
winner of a prestigious Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO
Leadership Award, Deeg was also Nebraska’s winner of the Big
Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Stelzmiller performed at Nebraska’s highest level in the
classroom. The accounting major captured WGCA Scholastic
All-America honors for the second time in her career, while
adding her second award as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
Cassie Deeg produced a trio of top-10 finishes as a junior for the Huskers in 2014-15. The native of Hugo, Minn., was also a standout off
the course as Nebraska’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and an academic All-Big Ten honor.
The three-time academic All-Big Ten selection was also a
member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.
“You can’t ask for much more as students and citizens
from Cassie, Cassidy and Morgan,” Krapfl said. “They are young
women of high character who are focused on achieving at high
levels in athletics, academics and in life.”
Stelzmiller was joined as a WGCA Scholastic All-American
by Emily Gillman. The freshman from Austin, Texas, enjoyed an
impressive start in the classroom and on the course.
Gillman finished her first season at Nebraska with a solid
78.22 stroke average over 27 rounds. Her tie for 67th made her
NU’s No. 4 finisher at the Big Ten Championships.
Fellow freshman Audrey Judd enjoyed an equally
impressive debut season on the course. The native of Olathe,
Kan., posted a 78.08 stroke average while tying for 70th at the
Big Ten Championships. She was also a two-time member of
the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and earned a spot on
the Tom Osborne Citizenship
Team.
2014-15 Nebraska Individual Stroke Averages Sarah Pravecek rounded
Golfer Strokes Rounds Average out Nebraska’s contributors
Jordan Chael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,259....................... 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .