May 21, 2005

Columbia, Mo. - Members of the University of Missouri Women's Golf squad and coaching staff continued to pile up the post season honors on Friday night following their first ever appearance at the NCAA Championships. At the post-tournament banquet in Bend, OR, head coach Stephanie Cooper was named the NCAA Central Regional Coach of the Year and senior Maria Ohlsson and junior Denise Knaebel earned All-American Honorable Mention honors. This is the first time members of the Tiger squad have earned mention in All-American circles since 2001 when former Tiger Amelia Moses also earned Honorable Mention Honors.

For Cooper, it is her second "Coach of the Year" award is as many years as she earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors following the 2004 season. She has led the Tigers to 36 top-10 finishes and 24 top-three finishes including six tournament championships over the course of the last four years.

Cooper has led Mizzou to NCAA Regional Competition in three of the four years she has been at the helm and helped her squad to their first appearance in the NCAA National Championships in school history this season. Under her leadership, the Tigers have recorded five of the six lowest 54-hole totals and nine of the ten lowest 18-hole team scores in school history. On top of that, members of the Mizzou squad have been named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar Team 12 times and to the Academic All-Big 12 Team nine times.

Ohlsson, who is from Vetlanda, Sweden, finishes her career as one of the top MU golfers in school history. She has earned All-Big 12 honors twice and recorded her first career win this season at the Lady Northern Classic where she fired a school record round of 66 in the second 18 on her way to the title. She also holds the school record for lowest 54-hole total with her total of 214 at the Las Vegas Collegiate Shootout in 2003.

Knaebel, who just wrapped up her junior season with a 71 in the final round of the NCAA Championships, is well on her way to having her name forever etched with the greats of Mizzou Women's Golf as well. The Moberly, MO, native holds the school record for lowest season 18-hole stroke average (74.60 in 2003-04) and also earned All-Big 12 First Team honors earlier this season for the second straight year. She has also earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors in each of the last two years and has been a National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar team member in each of the last three years.

For more information on Mizzou women's golf, log on to www.mutigers.com.