Wingate's McDonald and Anderson's Freeman Headline 2018 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Award Winners

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate's Diana McDonald was selected as the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golfer of the Year, while Anderson's Anna Freeman was named the Conference's Freshman of the Year and Wingate's Erin Thorne was named the Coach of the Year, the SAC office announced today.

McDonald, a sophomore from Kingston, Ontario, is ranked No. 13 nationally by Golfstat and is on the watch list for the Arnold Palmer Cup. She earned medalist honors three times this season, winning the Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate, the Newberry Invitational and the Sunoco Campbell Oil Classic. She also shot a school record four-under-par 68 during the Battle of the South.

Freeman, a freshman from Aiken, S.C., finished five of eight events in the Top-10 this year, including a second place finish at the Pfeiffer Invitational. She posted Anderson's second lowest adjusting scoring average of the season, firing an average score of 77.81. Freeman is also Anderson's second consecutive Freshman of the Year honoree and the third women's golfer to win the honor since the Trojans joined the SAC in 2011.

Thorne earns her second straight Coach of the Year honor after leading the Bulldogs to a No. 15 national ranking. Under her guidance, the Wingate women did not finish lower than fourth place in nine events this season, including winning the Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate. The Bulldogs also finished second at the Newberry Invitational, the Barton Invitational and at the Wingate Challenge.

Joining McDonald on the All-SAC First Team is Lincoln Memorial's Dominika Czudkova with an adjusted scoring average of 75.09. Lenoir-Rhyne's Abbey Hartsell checks in with a scoring average of 75.72, while Lincoln Memorial's Lise Malherbe has a scoring average of 76.13. Carson-Newman's Elizabeth England rounds out the first team honorees with an adjusted scoring average of 76.27.

The 2018 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship will run for Sunday, April 15 through Tuesday, April 17, at The Members Club at Woodcreek in Elgin, S.C.  Tee times will begin at 8:30 a.m. on all three days. Live results for all three rounds can be found online at www.thesac.com.

2018 SAC Women's Golf All-Conference

First Team All-Conference

Diana McDonald, Wingate
Dominika Czudkova, Lincoln Memorial
Abbey Hartsell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Lise Malherbe, Lincoln Memorial
Elizabeth England, Carson-Newman

Second Team All-Conference

Ainee O'Connor, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ciara Rattana, Tusculum
Kaley Barts, Catawba
Kate Hill, Anderson
Mind Puangcharoen, Wingate

Honorable Mention All-Conference

Laura Nunez Rodriguez, Wingate
Chelsea Mansel, Lenoir-Rhyne
Katie Tomassoni, Tusculum
Anna Freeman, Anderson
Laura Morrison, Lenoir-Rhyne

Freshman of the Year

Anna Freeman, Anderson 

Golfer of the Year

Diana McDonald, Wingate

Coach of the Year

Erin Thorne, Wingate

- #makeSACyours -