Women's Golf Trio Named Academic All-Big 12

April 22, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. - University of Oklahoma women's golf team members Kendall Dye, Staci Smoot and Ellen Mueller were named to the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Team, announced by the Big 12 Tuesday. The Sooner trio was among 36 first-team members.

Dye received the honor for the third time in the last three years. The Edmond, Okla., native has finished in the top-25 in every competition of the season, and has posted three top-10 finishes and a first-place finish at the Sooners' home tournament, the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic (her second career win).

Smoot was named to the team for the first time since her redshirt-freshman season. The senior from Rochester, Minn., began the spring with 39th-place finish at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Less than a week later, Smoot played her best tournament of the season, firing a low-round 73 (+1) en route to a 29th-place showing.

Mueller, a sophomore who hails from Evansville, Ind., joined the first team after competing in every tournament this season. At the fall Windy City Collegiate, Mueller fired a three-round score of 220 for a personal 54-hole tournament record and a third-place finish. She capped off regular season play with a second-place finish at the Susie Maxwell, her third career top-5 finish.

Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and the media relations offices, the academic all-league women's golf team includes those who have maintained a 3.00 GPA (either cumulative or over each of the two previous semesters) and have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests. First-team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and members of the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

Freshmen and transfer students are not eligible in the first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

OU competes April 24-26 at the Big 12 Championship at the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas. Tee times are set for 8 a.m. CT each day.