Arkansas golfer Emily Tubert wins Dinah Shore Trophy
An update on local athletes playing in college.
Emily Tubert (Burroughs High, 2010), Arkansas women’s golf, senior: The Burroughs High graduate finished a record-setting career for the Razorbacks and ended her senior campaign with a prestigious award.
Friday, Tubert was selected as the 2014 Dinah Shore Trophy Award winner from the LPGA Foundation, the Friends of Golf and the Nabisco Dinah Shore Championship.
Tubert attended a banquet at the NCAA Championship in Tulsa, Okla., to receive her award.
“This is a tremendous honor for Emily and for our women’s golf program,” Arkansas Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor stated on the university’s website. “My philosophy as a coach is to make sure our players are excelling in all areas of life and sport. Dinah Shore was a pioneer in women’s golf and laid a foundation to ensure that women’s golf continues to grow and prosper even at the collegiate level. It recognizes young women for being great leaders and who excel on the golf course.
“Emily was a complete student-athlete and achieved success in school, golf, and in our community. She has had an amazing impact on our program and this is a great honor to be recognized by the LPGA Foundation and the Dinah Shore Award committee. “
The LPGA Foundation introduced the Dinah Shore Scholarship Fund in March 1994 in honor of the late Dinah Shore and, together with FOG and the Nabisco, developed the Dinah Shore Trophy Award. A selection committee of the LPGA Foundation chooses the Dinah Shore Trophy Award recipient from nominations submitted by the National Golf Coaches Assn. Nominees for the award must have an overall grade-point average of at least a 3.2, have played in at least 50 percent of her team’s scheduled events, maintained a scoring average of 78 or less and demonstrated leadership skills and a commitment to community service.
With Tubert providing leadership, Arkansas enjoyed one of the program’s most successful seasons in 2013-14.
Tubert enjoyed her share of individual success as well, as she earned her fourth Southeastern Conference first-team honor. In addition, she leaves the Razorbacks with the program’s best-ever career scoring average of 72.25. At the 2014 NCAA Central Regional Championship in Stillwater, Okla. on May 10, Tubert shot 231 and tied for 51st.
Along with her four conference awards, Tubert also was a three-time All-American at Arkansas.
As a team, the Razorbacks tied a program-best by winning three tournaments on the season.
Katie Hooper (Burbank High, 2013) Cal State Northridge softball, freshman: It was a successful freshman season with the Matadors for the former Bulldogs standout, as she was named an All-Big West honorable mention.
The freshman led the Matadors with 11 doubles and her 36 runs batted in placed her second on the squad. In addition, Hooper had 15 multi-hit games during the year and led the Matadors with a .350 batting average against Big West opposition. She ended thee season with a .314 average (49 for 156), which was tied for third, and also slugged three home runs, had 18 walks and scored 15 runs.
The utility player started 54 of CSUN’s 55 games.
CSUN ended its season May 10 with 10-1 loss in five innings to Cal State Fullerton in a Big West Conference game.
The Matadors concluded the regular season with a 31-26 record, posting six more wins than they had in 2013, and marking it the fourth time since 2000 that the team reached the 30-win mark. The squad was 8-13 in Big West play.
Monique Landini (Bellarmine-Jefferson High, 2013), St. John’s softball, freshman: The former All-CIF Player of the Year helped the Red Storm complete one of its most successful seasons in program history.
St. John’s, seeded No. 2, advanced to the Big East Championship title game May 10, losing to top-seeded DePaul, 3-0.
Despite the loss, the season marked one of the best performances in St. John’s history, as the Red Storm (28-23) matched a program single-season record with a .276 team batting average while setting team records in double plays (27), conference wins (12) and posted the first season above .500 since 2004.
It was the program’s second-ever Big East Championship appearance.
Landini, an infielder, started in all 49 of St. John’s games. Along with a .219 average (32 for 146), she had eight doubles, scored 14 runs and drove in 11 runs.
Jasmine Smith (Bellarmine-Jefferson High, 2012) freshman forward, San Jose State women’s basketball: It was an award-winning first season for the former All-CIF player for the Guards.
Smith made an instant impact in her rookie season with the Spartans, earning a spot on the Mountain West All-Freshman Team. Junior teammate Ta’Rea Cunnigan was an honorable mention All-Mountain West honoree.
“Any individual recognition that our players get is great for our program, especially since we are in our first year in the league,” coach Jamie Craighead stated on the team’s website. “These individual awards are a testament to how hard Ta’Rea and Jasmine have worked this year, but are also a reflection of a total team effort. No single player can be recognized without the help of their teammates.”
Smith averaged 7.3 rebounds and three offensive boards a game, both fifth-best in league play. Her .476 shooting percentage was the 10th highest in conference play and the best on the team. Her 10 blocks and 21 steals were second- and third-best on the team, respectively.
In addition, Smith was second on the team with 132 rebounds and led the squad with 54 offensive rebounds. She averaged 9.9 points in Mountain West games while coming off the bench in 11 of the team’s 18 league contests.
San Jose State saw its season come to an end March 10 with a 78-75 loss to UNLV in the 2014 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Smith, who played just 15 minutes, had seven rebounds and five points, but fouled out with 8:40 to play.
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Follow Jeff Tully on Twitter: @jefftsports.