July 5, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” South Carolina women’s golfers Katelyn Dambaugh, Isidora Nilsson, Ainhoa Olarra and Jia Xin Yang were recognized as 2015-16 Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars, the organization announced on Tuesday.

The four Gamecocks were part of the group of 828 women’s collegiate golfers who maintained a minimum GPA of 3.50 and competed in at least 50 percent of their team’s tournaments. Tuesday’s announcement marks the second-straight year that Olarra and Yang have received the honor.

Dambaugh, a sport management major, turned in a historic season for the Gamecocks, posting South Carolina’s lowest single-season stroke average (71.62). Her six top-five finishes were the most by a junior in program history, and the Goose Creek, S.C., native finished second or better in three of her final four tournaments.

Nilsson appeared in seven events in her first season at South Carolina, including the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and the NCAA Championship. The sport management major’s best finish of the season came in Baton Rouge, where she carded a career-best 223 (+7) to finish in a tie for 30^th.

Olarra, one of three Gamecocks to compete in all 11 tournaments, boasted South Carolina’s third-best stroke average (74.38) this past season. She placed eighth at the SEC Championship to notch her second top-10 finish of the spring, and the economics major was one of two golfers to earn a point in South Carolina’s quarterfinal match against Stanford at the NCAA Championship.

Yang, a finance major, was part of the Gamecocks’ lineup in each of their eight regular-season events. She tied for 22^nd at the Wildcat Invitational with a 54-hole total of 221 (+5) before making her second-straight appearance at the SEC Championship in April.

South Carolina’s 2015-16 campaign ended with a seventh-place showing at the NCAA Championship, its second-highest finish in program history. The Gamecocks earned top-five finishes in four of their last five events, and their victory at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional marked their fourth regional championship in the last seven years.