Stella Cheng, Esther Lee, Emily Zhou Earn WGCA All-America Scholar Honors

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Stella Cheng, sophomore Esther Lee and first-year Emily Zhou earned All-America Scholar honors from the Women's Golf Coaches Association, the organization announced on Monday.

The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics. To be selected, a student-athlete must have an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher and have played in at least 50 percent of the college's regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.

Cheng earned the honor for the third time in her career, after earning first-team All-SCIAC and WGCA first-team all-region honors. She was also an honorable mention All-America selection, her third time earning national honors from the WGCA, including second-team All-America honors last year and honorable mention distinction in 2022 after her first season. Cheng has a dual major at Claremont McKenna in government and data science. 

Lee earned first-team All-America honors this year for the Athenas, after finishing 11th or better in every tournament she entered prior to the NCAA Championships. She was the SCIAC Athlete of the Year last season after winning individual medalist honors at the league championships, and earned individual medalist honors this year at the La Verne Invitational. Lee is a dual major at Claremont McKenna in data science and media studies. 

Zhou had a strong debut campaign which saw her earn a fifth-place finish at the CMS Invitational in the fall, and an 11th place finish at the second SCIAC regular season tournament in the spring. Zhou, who attends Harvey Mudd College, also added a 14th place finish (out of 75) at the UC Santa Cruz Invitational. 

CMS finished eighth at the NCAA Division III Championships, its fifth straight top-10 finish, and earned its first SCIAC title since 2019.