Loncki Locks Up Player of the Year, Leads Athenas in WGCA Honors
CORAL SPRINGS. Fla. – Still reeling from the excitement of the program's first National Championship, the awards continue to pour in for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's golf team, Individual Champion Margaret Loncki (CMC), and head coach Jodie Burton. Prior to clinching the National Title, Loncki, Emma Kang (CMC), and Mira Yoo (CMC) garnered Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Regional honors and Burton was named West Region Coach of the Year.
After the hardware was handed out on May 11, all three Athenas were announced as All-Americans, and Loncki was named the PING WGCA Division III Player of the Year. Burton was awarded Division III Golf Pride National Coach of the Year.
Loncki led Division III in scoring average for the 2017-18 season (73.70) and won the NCAA Division III National Championship with a four-round total of 303. She was named Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Athlete of the Year and captured the individual conference crown by three strokes, helping lead Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to its second straight SCIAC team title. Loncki was named a WGCA First Team All-American after earning Second Team honors in 2017. At the National Championship, the Athenas battled with the Williams Ephs through two playoff holes before Loncki made a 15-foot par putt on the 18th green to clinch the National Championship for CMS.
After being named the Golf Pride Division III West Region Coach of the Year, Burton led Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to its first ever National Title. She and her coaching staff also garnered SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the second-straight season after leading CMS to its second conference championship in as many years. The SCIAC Championship was the fifth in program history.
Kang and Yoo both earned All-Region and All-American accolades. Kang earned the second All-Region honor of her career after being named to the team last season as a freshman. She finished the National Championships tied for 27th with a score of 31-over par, 323, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors. The sophomore finished the SCIAC season with another top-five finish, placing fifth at the SCIAC Championships at 14-over.
Yoo collected All-Region honors and was named Second Team All-American after a stellar freshman campaign. She was also voted SCIAC Newcomer of the Year after finishing third overall at the SCIAC Championships, posting scores of 77, 75 and 74 during the three-day stretch. She finished tied for fifth at SCIAC No. 1 (79-79), and tied for second at SCIAC No. 2 with Loncki (74-77) to highlight a tremendous season. The freshman finished sixth at the National Championships with a four-day total of 19-over par, 311.
The efforts of the entire CMS women's golf team led to the program's first National Championship. The Title is the fifth NCAA team Championship in CMS department history and second this year, joining the women's volleyball team as National Champions in the 2017-18 academic year. This is the first time in department history that CMS Athletics has claimed multiple team National Championships in the same year.
About the Women's Golf Coaches Association
The Women's Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women's collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 600 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.