Wellesley's Makerney Named Liberty League Women's Golf Coach of the Year

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College golf head coach Sherry Makerney has been named the 2018-19 Liberty League Women's Golf Coach of the Year.

Wellesley and Makerney received 2019 Liberty League Women's Golf Coaching Staff of the Year Award after the Blue earned the team's first runner-up finish at the 2019 Liberty League Women's Golf Championships at the Mohawk Golf Club in Schenectady, N.Y. Wellesley finished with a program-best Liberty League Championship two score of 649.

A program-record four golfers earned Liberty League All-Conference honors in 2019 thanks to their top-ten finishes at the year's championship. Three first years were named to the First Team, as Aine Kenwood (Potomac, Md.), Audrey Lin (Fremont, Calif.), and Chansie Yang (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) all tied for fifth (+16) with matching scores of 162. The trio represent the first three Blue golfers to earn All-Conference First Team recognition.

First year Hannah Blonder (Westwood, Mass.) was just one stroke back (+17) in eighth place with a total score of 163 to earn All-Conference Second Team honors. The only Blue golfer to not earn All-Conference accolades at this year's Liberty League Championships was junior Ryan MacVicar (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), who is already the program's only two-time All-Conference recipient having finished in the top-ten at the Liberty League Championships in 2017 and 2018 under the guidance of Makerney.

Makerney and Wellesley, currently ranked 18th in the latest NCAA Division III rankings compiled by Golfstat, will return the entire squad for the 2019-20 season. 

2019 LIBERTY LEAGUE WOMEN'S GOLF AWARDS:

Player of the Year: Peyton Greco, Ithaca
Rookie of the Year: Arshia Mahant, NYU
Coaching Staff of the Year: Wellesley

ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM (determined by place finish at Liberty League championship):

Navika Kuchakulla, NYU
Arshia Mahant, NYU
Nattcha (Patty) Treevichaphan, NYU
Shihan Zhou, Vassar
Aine Kenwood, Wellesley
Audrey Lin, Wellesley
Chansie Yang, Wellesley 

ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM (determined by place finish at Liberty League championship):

Hannah Blonder, Wellesley
Peyton Greco, Ithaca
Jessica Wu, NYU 

HONORABLE MENTION (determined by place finish at Liberty League championship):

Arisa Kimura, NYU
Molly Wiener, Union
Margaret Liu, Vassar