Women Golfers Get Academic All American Attention at Coker College

The following news release was distributed by Coker College on July 2:



July 2, 2013


HARTSVILLE, S.C. – A trio of Coker College women's golfers – Mallory Thompkins, Sara Allen and Taylor Demby – were recently named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholars team for Division II. A total of 644 women's collegiate golfers were recognized across Division I, II and III.
"Mallory, Sara and Tayloe have worked very hard at being complete student-athletes," said head coach Tommy Baker. "They have learned the balance of being a committed student-athlete for Coker College, and most importantly for themselves. I am so proud of these three ladies for their commitment to excellent, on and off the golf course."
Thompkins is a junior education major with concentrations in early childhood education and elementary education. She participated in all nine events this past season, averaging 84.8 per round, which was tied for tops on the team. Thompkins' low round was a 78 at the Lander Bearcat Invitational.
Mallory is from Georgetown, S.C., and is the daughter of Mitch and Jamie Thompkins.
Allen, a junior, is a communications major at Coker. She played in six events this season and averaged 87.8. Her low round was a 79 at the Anderson University Invitational.
Sara is originally from Fort Mill, S.C., and is the daughter of Randy and Helen Allen.
Demby is a sophomore undeclared major. She played in all nine events and was third on the team with an 85 average. Demby's best round was a 75 at the Montreat Invitational. It was also the lowest individual round fo the team this season.
Taylor hails from Chesterfield, S.C. She is the daughter of Gregg and Angela Demby.

Criteria for WGCA All-American Scholar Teams

To be nominated, a student-athlete must meet have an overall GPA of 3.50 or higher (on a 4.00 scale) for the entirety of their collegiate career, be in attendance at the certifying institution for the entire academic year, be of high moral character and in good standing at the college making the nomination, have played in 66 percent of the college's regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year nominated (Division II only), and the head coach of the school making nominations must be an active member of the WGCA.
About WGCA

The Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA), formerly known as the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA), began in 1983 as an organization to promote participation in women's collegiate golf. The vision of the WGCA since its inception has been to encourage the playing of intercollegiate golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition.

The WGCA instills within coaches of women's golf a deeper sense of responsibility for the promotion, development, maintenance and conduct of competitive golf for women.
Today, the WGCA represents the finest coaches in women's golf with a membership of over 550 coaches of Division I, II & III, NAIA and NJCAA collegiate programs.
The organization provides its membership with a numerous benefits including industry recognition through prestigious awards, opportunity to participate in educational and networking events, cost-savings through association sponsored programs and communication through its many features on www.wgcagolf.com.
WGCA is governed by a 13 member Board of Directors including women's collegiate golf coaches at Division I, II & III institutions. The WGCA Headquarters is based in Coral Springs, Florida and is staffed by Executive Director Roger M. Yaffe.

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For more information, contact Chris Dougherty, manager of athletics media relations and marketing, at 843-383-8018 or cdougherty@coker.edu.