Missouri State's Ashley Childers has another academic honor to add to her list of accomplishments as a Bear golfer. The senior from Mount Vernon, Mo., has received honorable mention to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team for women's golf.
Childers is one of 15 golfers earning recognition, 10 on the first team and five receiving honorable mention. She was named to the first team a year ago and is a three-time All-American Scholar from the Women's Golf Coaches Association and this year received the MVC's President's Council Academic Excellence Award. Childers received the Valley's Elite 17 Award for having a 4.0 grade-point average and finishing sixth at the conference tournament last year. She is majoring in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and will graduate later this month. The Scholar-Athlete Team was voted on by the league's golf sports information directors.
Members of the first team this season include Hannah Bermel and Sydney Eaton of UNI, Taylor Ledwein and Frankie Saban of Bradley, Sierra Hargens and Thilda Staubo of Indiana State, Elayna Bowser of Loyola, Erica Kerr of Southern Illinois, and Caitlin Sims of Illinois State. Joining Childers in receiving honorable mention were Jackie Biggs and Emilyee McGiles of Southern Illinois, Sigurlaug Jonsdottir of Drake, and Sophia Rohleder of Evansville.
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for academic Academic All-America® program. Nominees must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale), while the student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institutions and must have participated in at least 50 percent of her team's rounds or played at the MVC Championship.
