BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Sharon O'Neill was named the 2003 Atlantic Sun Conference women's golf Player of the Year, while teammates Sofia Gorelik and Josefina Usandizaga earned all-conference recognition.
O'Neill was named A-Sun Women's Golf Player of the Year and first-team all-conference after compiling the best stroke average (75.48) in the league. A four-time, first-team all-league performer, O'Neill notched five top-10 individual showings during the season and was Campbell's low finisher in eight of the nine events she played.
She won the Fighting Camel Classic in March and was runner-up at the UNC Wilmington Lady Seahawk Invitational three weeks later when she set a school record for lowest 54-hole score at 213 (70-73-70).
The Mackay, Australia native joins Maria Maldonado and Patricia Monchietti as the only three players in the program's history to earn all-league honors four times. Maldonado was a first-team All-Big South performer in 1992, '93 and '94 and a first-team all-league choice in the A-Sun (then known as the TAAC) in '95. Monchietti was a three-time first-team all-league choice in 1996, '98 and '99 and earned second-team honors in 1997.
Gorelik was named the to the A-Sun all-conference first-team and the All-Freshman unit after recording the second-best stroke average in the loop (76.48) behind her teammate O'Neill. The Tandil, Argentina native was twice a runner-up during the season – at the Radford Invitational and Campbell's Fighting Camel Classic – and tied placed among the top-20 individuals nine times in 10 outings during the year.
Usandizaga earned second-team all-conference recognition for the third-straight year. A junior from Tandil, Argentina, she fashioned a 77.59 stroke average, seventh-best in the A-Sun, and produced seven top-20 individual showings on the year. Usandizaga was runner-up at the Radford Lady Highlander Invitational and also at the Tulane Green Wave Classic.
Ashley Grier of Jacksonville University was voted the A-Sun Freshman of the Year after she posted the fourth-best stroke average (77.15) among league players. Cathy Mant of league champion Georgia State was named A-Sun Coach of the Year.
Georgia State teammates Lisbeth Meincke and Nicole Wagner joined O'Neill, Gorelik and Grier on the all-conference first-team. Joining Usandizaga on the second-team were Anne Fraser and Natalia Navarro from Florida Atlantic, plus UCF's Kim Tudor and Florencia Moran of Jacksonville State.
Gorelik, Grier and Meincke were All-Freshman team choices along with Shanelle Howell and Marilen Ruiz of Jacksonville State.
The A-Sun Player, Freshman and Coach of the Year are voted on by league head coaches. The first and second team all-conference honorees are based on the GolfStat rankings compiled at the conclusion of the A-Sun Championship.