UTEP women’s golfer Valeria Mendizabal earned First Team All-Conference USA honors, it was announced by the league office on Wednesday.
Mendizabal represented the Miners as one of five student-athletes to be named to the first team after competing in all seven tournaments for UTEP in 2019-20. She is the first Miner to earn first team accolades since Camino Sardinero in 2015.
This past season, Mendizabal ranked first in Conference USA after compiling a career-best 71.6 stroke average in 20 rounds, which also ranked first on the team. She was UTEP’s top finisher six out of seven times, including two first-place finishes on the year. She finished in the top 10 in every tournament during the fall and once during the spring before the season was cut short.
The junior also earned C-USA Golfer of the Week honors three times during the season.
Mendizabal never shot worse than 75 in a single round throughout the course of the year and she became the first Miner to win multiple tournaments in a season since the 2006-07 campaign.
The junior shot a career-low 65 in the second round of the Little Rock Classic to help clinch first place individually after shooting 8-under par with a score of 208 (71-65-72). Her second-round 65 fired in Little Rock marked the best in the event’s history and broke UTEP’s single-round scoring record.
Her total of 208 at the Little Rock Classic was also the second-lowest individual scorecard in tournament history
Mendizabal also brought home first place in the 2019 fall opener after shooting 1-under par with a 212 (69-75-68) at the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial.
For complete coverage of UTEP Women’s Golf, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPwgolf (Twitter) and @UTEPwomensgolf (Instagram) or click here to visit the official home of UTEP Athletics.
2020 C-USA WOMEN’S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
All-Conference USA First Team (5)
Ashley Fowler, Charlotte
Siarra Stout, Charlotte
Lauren Cox, North Texas
Jana Melichova, Old Dominion
Valeria Mendizabal, UTEP
All-Conference USA Second Team (5)
Cecilie Finne-Ipsen, Charlotte
Justine Fournand, Florida Atlantic
Audrey Tan, North Texas
Leah Onosato, Old Dominion
Tia Teiniketo, UAB
All-Conference USA Third Team (6)
Jillian Farrell, Charlotte
Ellinor Sudow, Charlotte
Sophie Burks, Middle Tennessee
Patricia Sinolungan, North Texas
Friend Chompitakdacha, Southern Miss
Ana Gonzalez, UTSA
Women’s Golfer of the Year
Ashley Fowler, Charlotte
Freshman of the Year
Justine Fournand, Florida Atlantic
Most Improved Golfer of the Year
Tia Teiniketo, UAB
Coach of the Year
Holly Clark, Charlotte
