Jan. 19, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – – The South Carolina women’s golf team compiled the highest overall grade point average of any team in the South Carolina athletic department last semester, and broke a school record in doing so.

The women’s golf team finished the 2004 fall semester with a 3.671 overall GPA, which marked the highest team GPA since the athletic department began charting the figure on team-by-team basis in 1996.

Leading the way for the Gamecocks were a pair of freshmen in Whitney Simons and Blythe Worley. Simons, a graduate of Aiken High School in her hometown of Aiken, S.C., earned a spot on the President’s List (perfect 4.0 GPA). Worley, a native of Greenville, N.C., and graduate of J.H. Rose High School, matched Simons by earning a spot on the President’s List as well.

Academic honors are nothing new to the South Carolina women’s golf team under head coach Kristi Coggins, as no school in the country placed more of its student-athletes on the 2004 National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete Team than South Carolina, which had six of its student-athletes honored last year.

In addition, six other Gamecocks earned spots on the school’s Dean’s List. The criteria for earning a spot on the Dean’s List for freshmen is a minimum GPA of 3.25. Sophomores, juniors and seniors must achieve a 3.5 GPA or higher to qualify for the Dean’s List.

The Gamecocks to earn Dean’s List recognition during the fall semester were business majors Erica Battle (Irmo, S.C./Irmo HS), Tiffany Catafygiotu (Greer, S.C./Greer), Laura Raffo (Rio Cuarto Argentina) and Caroline Rominger (Pontresina, Switzerland), journalism major Lauren Huhnerkoch (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS) and sport and entertainment management major Laura McCaslin (Cookeville, Tenn./Cookeville HS).

“I am once again, very proud of the student-athletes on our women’s golf team for their accomplishments in the classroom,” Coggins said. “The dedication and determination shown by this group surpasses any I have experienced in the past and we are historically, very strong academically. I am inspired every day by these young ladies.”