Smith Earns All-Big Ten Honors

Big Ten Champion Kate Smith added another award to her historic senior season when she was named first-team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches on Wednesday, April 28.

The recognition for Smith followed her winning performance at the 2021 Big Ten Championship at TPC River's Bend in Maineville, Ohio (April 23-25). Smith tied the school record with a final-round 64 (-8) to storm to a three-stroke win over Northwestern's Irene Kim, who was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Year. Smith finished with a three-round score of 207 (-9) to give Nebraska just its third conference individual champion in school history, joining Sarah Sasse (2003, Big 12) and Rachelle Tacha (1996, Big Eight).

Smith, who became Nebraska's first-ever Mary Fossum Award winner for carrying the best stroke average relative to par in the Big Ten Conference in 2019-20, earned her second straight first-team All-Big Ten honor. She becomes just the third Husker women's golfer in history to win multiple all-conference honors, joining three-time All-Big 12 selection Sasse (2000, 2001, 2003) and Rachelle Tacha (1996, 1997).

Smith leads the Huskers with a 72.44 stroke average this season, just off her own school-record pace of 72.18 a year ago. Her 73.30 career stroke average through 122 rounds is also a school record. She owns 30 career top-25 tournament finishes as a Husker, including all six of Nebraska's tournaments this season. She carries 21 career top-10 performances, including five in the spring of 2021.

In addition to Smith's All-Big Ten award, Megan Whittaker was named Nebraska's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner for 2020-21. The junior from Elkhorn, Neb., notched a top-20 finish at the Big Ten Championship by tying for 18th with a career-best three-round total of 219. Whittaker is a two-time WGCA Scholastic All-American and is a two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. She also earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten selections in 2020. Her mother, Kim (Lefler) Whittaker, lettered as a golfer for Nebraska from 1991 to 1994, and was a senior on Nebraska's first NCAA Regional team in 1994.

2021 Big Ten Women's Golf Individual Awards
Golfer of the Year: Irene Kim, Northwestern
Freshman of the Year: Monet Chun, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Diana Cantu, Maryland
 
First-Team All-Big Ten
Virunpat Olankitkunchai, Maryland
Laura Van Respaille, Maryland
Monet Chun, Michigan
Ashley Lau, Michigan
Valery Plata, Michigan State
Kate Smith, Nebraska
Irene Kim, Northwestern
Aneka Seumanutafa, Ohio State
 
Second-Team All-Big Ten
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Crystal Wang, Illinois
Xiaolin Tian, Maryland
Hailey Borja, Michigan
Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State
Yurika Tanida, Michigan State
Kelly Sim, Northwestern
Thitapa Pakdeesettakul, Purdue
 
Big Ten Sportsmanship Awards
Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois
Angela Aung, Indiana
Morgan Goldstein, Iowa
Laura Van Respaille, Maryland
Ashley Lau, Michigan
Paz Marfa Sans, Michigan State
Grace Curran, Minnesota
Megan Whittaker, Nebraska
Brooke Riley, Northwestern
Kristin Jamieson, Ohio State
Megan McLean, Penn State
Kan Bunnabodee, Purdue
Maeve Rossi, Rutgers
Bobbi Stricker, Wisconsin