TULSA, Oklahoma – Following the first round of the 2026 Great American Conference Women’s Golf Championships, the league announced its year-end awards winners. Arkansas Tech’s Ellen Spigner won Player of the Year. Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Maria Velilla earned Freshman of the Year. The Golden Suns’ Lowell Stephens claimed Coach of the Year. Henderson State’s Isabella Ferreira, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Amanda Lane, Oklahoma Baptist’s Samantha Lehr and Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Carley Button - owners of perfect 4.00 GPAs - received the Elite Scholar Athlete Award - Presented by Conway Regional Health System.
Spigner becomes the fifth Golden Sun lauded as the league’s Player of the Year. She joins Rebecka Surtevall, 2012-2015; Anna Frandsen, 2016, Peerada Piddon, 2018-2019; and Jacqueline Klemm, 2021, as Tech players named Player of the Year. She won three events - the Midwest Classic, The Tulsa Cup and the Hardscrabble Invitational. She added a third-place result at the Spring Region Preview and a fifth at the Grace Shin Invite.
2026 Women's Golf All-GAC Awards
Velilla, the Bulldogs’ third Freshman of the Year in program history, picked up a tournament win and six top-10 finishes. She claimed the medalist honor at the MWSU Women's Holiday Inn Express Invitational and she placed second at the Newman Fall Invite and the Diffee Ford Lincoln Invitational.
Stephens guided the Golden Suns to wins at the Tulsa Cup and Spring Region Preview plus runner-up showings at the Grace Shin Invite, Midwest Classic and Hardscrabble Invitational. The Golden Suns rank first in the most recent NCAA Division II Central Region rankings and 31st nationally.
Spigner, Henderson State’s Lily Nelson and SWOSU’s Freya Sala made the All-GAC First Team by unanimous consent. Nelson collected victories at the season-opening Central Region Fall Preview and at the Reddies’ regular-season finale, the WT Desert Invite. She added a runner-up finish at the Battle for the Belt. Sala, the champion at the 2025 GAC Championships, notched seven top-10 results in eight starts.
Velilla and Tech’s Jaylee Castro filled out the First Team. Castro broke the GAC 18-hole scoring record with a 64 at the Grace Shin Invite. She notched top-10 finishes at five events.
The All-GAC Second Team consisted of Harding’s Sydney Kincade and Pilar Martinez, Arkansas Tech’s Averi Mickelson, Henderson State’s Paulina Narvaez and Oklahoma Baptist’s Morgan Simmons.
The All-GAC Honorable Mention Team featured Harding’s Madeleine Wilson, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Gracie Doke, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Carley Button, Southern Arkansas’ Brianna Chamoun, Southern Nazarene’s Haley Whittern and SWOSU’s Daniela Espinoza.
A total of 33 student-athletes placed on the GAC Academic Honor Roll team - Presented by Conway Regional Health System. Southern Nazarene led with seven selections - Darci DeWitt, Addison Hoefar, Gracelynn Nickell, Riley Rinner, Lillian Savage, Whittern and Arlie Wilson. Harding had five in Sidney Gainor, Kincade, Martinez, Cooper Meyer and Wilson. East Central and Northwestern Oklahoma State each placed four in the Tigers’ Paola Gutierrez, Gabby Hack, Gracie Lassiter and Adrianna O’Daniel and the Rangers’ Doke, Kelsey Hoy-Pollard, Heather Hunkele and Tess Linden. Tech’s Castro, Mickelson and Spigner; Arkansas-Monticello’s Robbi Jo Freeman and Tori Milton, Henderson State’s Hailey Coleman and Nelson, Oklahoma Baptist’s Ines Diaz and Emilee Pierce, SWOSU’s Espinoza and London Wilson, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Karen Kim and SAU’s Chamoun filled out the team.