Missouri State's Missy Linnens, the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Year, highlights the league's Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete First Team.  The senior from Wichita, Kan., was named to the MVC's first team for the third time for maintaining a 3.73 grade-point average while majoring in marketing. 

Linnens completed her collegiate career last week by earning her third consecutive all-conference award, being named the league's top player and finishing 15th at the MVC Championship.  She led the Valley in scoring average this past season with a 76.07 mark and her 77.93 career average places her third in school history.  She was conference medalist in 2006, holds the school 54-hole scoring record and was a 2007 National Golf Coaches Asociation All-American Scholar.

Linnens was joined on the first academic team by Bradley's Bari Erais (3.84 GPA, Accounting), Southern Illinois' Kelly Gerlach (3.71, Political Science), '08 MVC medalist Olivia Lansing of Drake (3.52, Graphic Design/Advertising), Stacey Miller of Illinois State (3.76, Management), and Creighton's Leigh Sutton (3.99, Psychology).

Four honorable mention selections included Whitney Cox of Bradley, Krista Hrdlicka of Wichita State, Molly Schemm of UNI and Rikki Sobel of Bradley.