Esther Lee Earns First-Team All-America Honors for Athenas Golf

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. - Esther Lee of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's golf team earned first-team All-America honors from the Women's Golf Coaches Association, it was announced on Monday evening at the pre-NCAA Championships banquet.

Stella Cheng also earned first-team all-region honors and was selected to the honorable mention All-America team, which got underway this morning at the NCAA Division III Championships in Nicholasville, Kentucky. 

Lee helped CMS capture the SCIAC Championship last month to cap off an impressive sophomore season, which came on the heels of winning the SCIAC Athlete of the Year honor as a first-year last spring. The only tournament when Lee did not earn a top-10 finish in the entire 2023-24 season came when she was 11th at the George Fox Invitational, in a field of 67 competitors. 

During the spring, Lee also took individual medalist honors at the La Verne Invitational, shooting a program-record 66 during the second round. She was fifth at the SCIAC Championships, and helped CMS seal the championship with a birdie on the 18th hole during the final round, with her approach shot from 100 yards out stopping a foot from the pin. 

Cheng makes the All-America list for the third time in her career, including an honorable mention selection as a first-year and a second-team All-America selection last season. In the fall, she was the individual medalist at the California State Intercollegiate, the missed some time in the spring this season with an injury, but returned to earn a top-10 finish at the SCIAC Championships (ninth) to help CMS to the team title.

CMS finished a close third last season at the NCAA Division III Championships, and will try to pursue a podium finish again this year, with Lee and Cheng leading a young five-player line-up that has no seniors, two first-years and two sophomores.