2008 Big Ten Women's Golf Postseason Honors :: Purdue's Hernandez repeats as Big Ten Player of the Year

April 28, 2008

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Fresh off of winning its third all-time Big Ten Championship, Purdue went on to sweep the end of the year conference accolades. Big Ten individual champion Maria Hernandez was named the conference Player of the Year, while her mentor Devon Brouse was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year. Finishing the Boilermaker trio of winners is Maude Aimee LeBlanc, earning Freshman of the Year honors. In addition, 11 honorees were also chosen for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Hernandez capped off a record-setting Championships performance by earning Big Ten Player of the Year for the second straight season. She becomes the fourth individual to garner the award more than once and is the first Boilermaker to do so. Hernandez set a plethora of new records at this year's Championships including lowest 72-hole score (281), lowest 54-hole score (212), and lowest individual round (66). She is the first Purdue women's golfer to win the Big Ten Championships. Hernandez was also honored with her second-consecutive Mary Fossum Award, an honor that commenced in 2007 and is given to a conference individual with the lowest stroke average to par.

LeBlanc continues the long standing success of Purdue freshman as she becomes the fourth-consecutive Boilermaker to win Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-1 native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, finished tied-for-fourth at the Big Ten Championships, the highest of all conference freshmen, helping her squad to a team title. Earlier this season, she was honored with a conference Golfer of the Week award on Feb. 27, one of only two freshmen to do so.

For Brouse, the Purdue general earns his third Coach of the Year accolade as he won the award in 2006 and 2000. Brouse is the only Boilermaker coach to earn the honor since the award was first given in 1984 and becomes just the third coach in conference history to earn the laurel more than twice. This year's conference title was the school's third team title all of which were under Brouse.

The All-Big Ten first team is highlighted by the Purdue's Hernandez and Christina Boeljon. The upperclassmen have earned first team honors three times each throughout their collegiate career. The duo is joined by freshmen teammates LeBlanc and Junthima Gulyamamitta. Gulyamamitta tied-for-10th at this year's event and was honored with two conference Golfer of the Week awards this season, more than any other individual. Completing the first team are Michigan State's Sara Brown and Laura Kueny. Brown earns her second-consecutive first-team selection while Kueny takes home her first.

All-Conference second-team members include Illinois' Seul Ki Park, Indiana's Anita Gahir, Michigan State's Aimee Neff, and the Ohio State trio of Carling Coffing, Emma Jandel and Gemma Webster.

The conference office also announced today honorees from each of the conference's 11 women's golf squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for women's golf are Illinois' Stephanie Mory, Indiana's Elaine Harris, Iowa's Laura Cilek, Michigan's Ashley Bauer, Michigan State's Neff, Minnesota's Paige Bromen, Northwestern's Justina Yu, Ohio State's Jessica Hauser, Penn State's Christin Pacacha, Purdue's Gulyamamitta and Wisconsin's Katie Elliot. These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.

A complete listing of the 2008 All-Big Ten Teams and individual honors follows.

2008 WOMEN'S GOLF POSTSEASON HONORS

FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG TEN                      SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
Sara Brown, Michigan State                 Seul Ki Park, Illinois
Laura Kueny, Michigan State                Anita Gahir, Indiana
Christina Boeljon, Purdue                     Aimee Neff, Michigan State
Junthima Gulyamamitta, Purdue            Carling Coffing, Ohio State
Maria Hernandez, Purdue                     Emma Jandel, Ohio State
Maude Aimee-Leblanc, Purdue              Gemma Webster, Ohio State

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maria Hernandez, Purdue

COACH OF THE YEAR: Devon Brouse, Purdue

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Maude Aimee-LeBlanc, Purdue

MARY FOSSUM AWARD: Maria Hernandez, Purdue

2008 WOMEN'S GOLF SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREES

Stephanie Mory, Illinois
Elaine Harris, Indiana
Laura Cilek, Iowa
Ashley Bauer, Michigan
Aimee Neff, Michigan State
Paige Bromen, Minnesota
Justina Yu, Northwestern
Jessica Hauser, Ohio State
Christin Pacacha, Penn State
Junthima Gulyanamitta, Purdue
Katie Elliott, Wisconsin