BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its award recipients for the 2023-24 women's golf season on Monday.
Carleton sophomore Carter Sichol was selected as the Women's Golf Player of the Year, while St. Catherine first-year Grace Petzold was named Rookie of the Year, and St. Catherine head coach Mary Giorgi was recognized as Coach of the Year.
Sichol (Winnetka, Ill. | New Trier) was voted Women's Golf Player of the Year after leading all conference players with a scoring average of 73.9 shots per round in 2023-24. Sichol took home medalist honors at six of the nine events in which she competed, including the 2023 MIAC Women's Golf Championships. She placed among the top ten competitors at all nine tournaments she played during the 2023-24 campaign. Sichol is the sixth Knight to be named MIAC Women's Golf Player of the Year and the first since 2019-20.
Petzold (Plymouth, Minn. | Providence Academy) received MIAC Women's Golf Rookie of the Year honors after leading all first-year players with a scoring average of 76.9 in 2023-24. That average also ranked third among all MIAC women's golfers. Petzold competed in eleven tournaments during her debut season and finished among the top ten at ten of them. She is the third Wildcat in the last four seasons to be named MIAC Rookie of the Year in women's golf.
Giorgi (ninth season) was celebrated by her peers with MIAC Women's Golf Coach of the Year honors for the third time in her career. Under her guidance, the Wildcats won the conference championship for the third time in four seasons, punching a ticket to the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships in the process. St. Kate's led all MIAC women's golf teams with a scoring average of 307.2 during the 2023-24 campaign. Giorgi is now one of four MIAC women's golf coaches to be honored with the award at least three times since the turn of the century.
The MIAC Women's Golf All-Conference team was selected using a combination of MIAC championship results and end-of-season voting. The top 10 finishers (including ties) at the MIAC Championship last fall automatically earned All-MIAC honors, and coaches nominated and voted on five additional players to the All-MIAC squad based on their body of work throughout the season. The conference also recognized honorable mention selections, bestowing the accolade upon any individual who did not place among the top five vote-getters but still received votes from at least three coaches.
Three golfers - Saint Benedict's Emily Renner, St. Catherine's Jaycee Rhodes, and St. Olaf's Bergen Senf - earned All-MIAC honors for the fourth time, a feat achieved by just 22 women's golfers in conference history. Bethel's Greta McArthur and St. Catherine's Kyra Venne became three-time All-MIAC honorees, joining a list that now totals 47 women's golfers all-time.