Paul Collects All-Region Accolades

UW-Oshkosh junior McKenzie Paul has received all-region honors by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA).

Paul, who helped lead the Titans to their first NCAA Division III postseason appearance since 2004, was named to the 10-member All-Central Region Team based on her performance during the 2015-16 season.

Paul, the 2015 WIAC Player of the Year, competed in all nine of UW-Oshkosh's tournaments this season and led the Titans with an average 18-hole score of 80.3 strokes.

This season, Paul became the third Titan to secure the individual title at the WIAC Championship and the first since Cheryl Treadwell in 2002. Paul counted a season-best 76 strokes in the final round to win the three-day league tournament by 13 strokes over UW-Oshkosh teammate Kayla Priebe.

Paul's season results also included a runner-up finish at both the Viterbo University and UW-Stevens Point Mad Dawg invitationals and fifth-place showings at both the UW-Oshkosh and the UW-Whitewater invitationals. She concluded the year with a 57th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championship.

Paul, who led the WIAC with an average 18-hole score of 79.4 strokes last fall, scored in the 70s during eight of her 20 rounds this season, including a 78 in the final round of the national tournament in Houston, Texas.

UW-Oshkosh placed 14th among 21 teams at the NCAA Division III Championship, which was shortened to from four rounds to three due to inclement weather. Paul, playing in her first national tournament, compiled a three-day score of 245 strokes, including 87 during the first round and 80 in the second.

Joining Paul on the WGCA All-Central Region were Chloe DiPetrillo, Jessica Wibawa and Connie Zhou from Washington University (Mo.); Danielle Ellis, Jordan Koehler and Karson Taphorn from Illinois Wesleyan University; Kayla Meyer from Carthage College; and Vidushi Singa and Vrishali Sinha from Grinnell College (Iowa).

Vrishali Sinha, the WGCA Freshman of the Year, represented the Central Region on the WGCA All-America Second Team while Patrick Freeman from Illinois Wesleyan University was named the WGCA Central Region Coach of the Year.

Caroline Ordian from the University of Redlands (Calif.) was named the WGCA Player of the Year after winning the national individual title. WGCA Coach of the Year honors went to Nate Parrish from Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.).

Rhodes College (Tenn.) won the national championship – its second title in three seasons – by 15 strokes over runner-up University of Texas at Tyler.