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ELON, N.C. -- An Elon-record three women's golfers have been honored as members of the NGCA All-America Scholar Team which is presented annually by The National Golf Coaches Association. Senior Tara McFadden earned the second selection of her career while junior Virginia Mayer and sophomore Martyna Mierzwa both collected the accolade for the first time in their tenures at Elon.

The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics.  The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 and athletes had to compete in at least 50 percent of their team's rounds.

McFadden, who graduated in May with a 3.93 GPA in education, was an All-Southern Conference honoree and averaged a 76.15 over 26 rounds this season. A native of Thomasburg, Ontario, Canada, McFadden had three top-10 finishes in 10 tournaments. She claimed medalist honors after firing a three-round mark of 215 at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate event in September.

Mayer boasts a 4.0 GPA while majoring in finance/accounting.  A Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District III selection, Mayer is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi, of which she is the president.  She has been a SoCon Academic Honor Roll member and has served on Elon's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a recipient of the Coleman Lew Leadership Award from the Southern Conference. Mayer was recognized this year with Elon's A.L. Hook Scholar-Athlete award which is bestowed upon both the male and female junior or senior athletes that sport the highest GPA among the more than 350 Phoenix student-athletes.  On the links, the Charlotte, N.C. resident participated in 10 tournaments for the Phoenix, garnering four top-seven finishes. Over her 27 rounds, Mayer averaged a 76.26. Her best round of the year was a 70 at the Great Smokies Collegiate where she placed in a tie for fourth individually with a two-round score of 142. Her performances helped Elon to eight top-10 team finishes in 10 events.

Mierzwa, a native of Poznan, Poland, carries a 3.58 GPA as an international business major.  Mierzwa averaged a 77.08 in 24 rounds over nine tournaments for the Phoenix.  She notched five top-15 finishes, including a ninth-place showing with a three-round score of 222 at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate.  Mierzwa tied for 12th in a field of 121 golfers at the UC Spring Invitational in Crystal River, Fla. in March by carding a three-day score of 224 (76-72-76).  That performance lifted her to SoCon Player of the Week honors.