ATLANTA, Ga. – Kennesaw State received five ASUN Conference awards with four players earning All-ASUN bids and head coach Erin Thorne winning ASUN Coach of the Year, the league office announced Monday.
It’s the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Owls have collected exactly four members to the All-ASUN teams. KSU ended with the second most total awards (5), with North Florida receiving six.
Coach of the Year
Thorne coached her way to not only her first ASUN title but her first ASUN Coach of the Year. The award showcases as the program’s sixth all-time and the first since 2019. It’s her fourth career coach of the year award dating back to when she won three at Wingate University.
She coached the Owls to their lowest tournament score under her tenure with a seven-under 857 team score in the Sam Golden Invitational. That tournament included program records for single-round low (277 in round two) and team-low through 36 holes (560). Thorne led all-conference golfer Lara Jecnik to tie the program low for a single round with a 66 in round two.
Thorne coached four ASUN Golfer of the Weeks with three different winners (Jecnik ((2X)), Kelly and Campbell-Nyman). Two golfers (Jecnik and Kelly) collected their first career Golfer of the Week awards this season. It’s the most Golfers of the Week won in a single season since 2021.
She improved three Owls’ regular-season average round scores:
· Lara Jecnik went from 74.26 to 72.73 (1.53)
· Bella Kil from 73.67 to 73.12 (0.55)
· Nyah Kelly went from 76.57 to 73.65 (2.92)
Thorne spearheaded the Owls to a 864 team score to secure the ASUN Championship, the second best total of the year for KSU.
First Team
Lara Jecnik
Jecnik received the second-most votes among coaches while also being the lone golfer to be a unanimous selection to the all-conference first team.
Her 72.73 regular season scoring average not only led the team but also trimmed her average by 1.53 strokes from last year’s total. She earned first team all-conference in back-to-back seasons.
She led the team in top-10 finishes with five including finishing tied for ninth in the ASUN Championship. She was the top scorer on the Owls in four of the six spring competitions, including three consecutive to end the regular season.
Jecnik collected her first career ASUN Golfer of the Week this season after her top-10 performance in the Columbia Classic. She ended with a 219 after posting back-to-back even scores in rounds one and two.
She tied her career best and a program-record best round with a 66 in round two of the Sam Golden Invitational. Her 66 also marked the lowest round of any Owl the entire season.
Bella Kil
Kil is no stranger to ASUN postseason awards as she tallies her fifth and sixth postseason accolades. Kil registered back-to-back all-conference first team spots and secured her third-straight ASUN All-Tournament Team. After her third-place finish in the ASUN Championship, her three all-tournament team awards are tied for the most in program history.
She is also quite familiar with taking down program records as she carded her 15th career top-10 finish, the most in team history. In round two of the ASUN Championship, she tied the all-time program record with a 66-round score. It was only the second time an Owl has done so in the ASUN Championship.
Sporting a 73.12 regular season scoring average, Kil registered three finishes in the top three this season.
The best finish for the Owls all season came from Kil in the Rio Verde Invitational as she finished second with a four-under 212. Her second and third round totals (67 & 68) totaled the second best score in program history over 36 holes with a 137 score.
Second Team
Nyah Kelly
After returning from injury, Kelly was on fire collecting two ASUN Golfer of the Week awards. Kelly jumped on the scene in the fall after missing the first two tournaments as she won back-to-back weekly awards. She marked the first Owl to receive two weekly awards in one season since Tai Anudit in 2021.
In her first competition, she registered a four-under 212 ranking fifth in the Dale McNamara Invitational. She then followed that performance up with a one-under 215 in the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Hawaii. She did not post an above par round in Hawaii with 71, 72, 72 rounds.
All-Freshman Team
Alessandra Nagayo
The freshman saved the best for last as she placed top five in the ASUN Championship with a 217 total. She marked her career-best round score with a 69 in round three of the ASUN Championship.
Her performance was enough to gather an ASUN All-Tournament team spot. Nagayo compiled 20 rounds and played in seven events for KSU. She had two top-10 finishes with the other coming in the Pinetree Women’s Collegiate.
The Final Tally
Kennesaw State will look forward to its destination in the NCAA Regional round when the locations are announced Wednesday, April 24 at 2 p.m. on the Golf Channel. As KSU completed its last ASUN Championship before moving to Conference USA in 2024-25, the Owls added to their impressive legacy. Listed below are all of the categories in which the Owls earned awards in their time in the ASUN.
Golfer of the Week/Month: 49
All-Conference/All-ASUN: 43
All-Tournament: 27
Golfer/Coach/Freshman of the Year: 17
ASUN Championship Medalists: 16
All-Freshman Team: 15
All-Academic: 9
Total awards: 176 (Dating back to 2010)
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