Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina's
Brie Mapanao was named the 2022-23 Southern Conference Women's Golf Freshman of the Year, and fifth-year head coach
Courtney Gunter collected SoCon Coach of the Year plaudits as a combined four Catamounts received recognition on Tuesday as the conference unveiled its postseason awards as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Headlined by WCU earning two of the top three annual individual awards, Mapanao, who also earned a selection on the SoCon's All-Freshman team, was joined by fifth-year senior
Madison Isaacson and sophomore
Elizabeth Lohbauer on the 10-member All-Southern Conference team. WCU's three honorees were the most by any squad with Furman and ETSU landing two apiece, while Chattanooga, UNCG, and Mercer each had one selection. Furman senior Anna Morgan was named the Player of the Year as the third award winner.
Mapanao is just the fourth Catamount to claim Freshman of the Year accolades joining Line Cordes (2002), Brandy Andersen (2003), and Desiree Karlsson (2007). She is also the sixth Catamount to collect All-Freshman honors since 2009, joining Blaire Minter (2009), Malin Jansson (2010), Sofie Kvarnstrom (2012), Oliva Landino (2014), and Lohbauer a season ago in 2022. Gunter joins WCU Athletics Hall of Famer Steve Lott as the only two WCU head coaches to collect coach of the year plaudits from their peers with Lott earning the honor three times – 2002, 2003, and 2006.
The All-SoCon accolade for each of WCU's three honorees is the first of their respective careers.
Western Carolina's trio of All-SoCon selections each broke the school's 13-year-old single-season scoring record previously held by Josefine Sundh at 74.78 carded over 27 rounds back in 2009-10. Mapanao finished the season third in the conference – the highest-ranking freshman – with a WCU-best 73.78 scoring average, just ahead of Lohbauer in fourth (73.85) and Isaacson in sixth at 74.11.
Mapanao recorded six individual top-10 finishes including three that landed her on the podium with a third-place showing at the Aggie Invitational in the fall and a pair of career-best, runner-up finishes. The Quakers Hill, New South Wales, Australia, product finished second at the Buccaneer Classic to conclude the fall and matched her career-best finish with a runner-up at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate. Mapanao capped her rookie season by placing in a 10th-place tie at the conference championship.
All 27 of Mapanao's seasonal rounds were shot in the 70s or lower including seven rounds of 72-or-better with a career-best round of 67 in the second round at the Jupiter Women's Invitational. She collected SoCon Women's Golfer of the Week honors after her second-place showing at the Buccaneer Classic in mid-October.
Lohbauer was a two-time SoCon Women's Golfer of the Week and the league's Golfer of the Month in February. The Venice, Fla., native had six top 10 finishes with three on the podium including her first collegiate career win, finishing tied for medalist honors at the Jackrabbit Invitational in mid-March posting the second-best, 54-hole score in program history (73-69-68=210). A combined 25 of her 27 seasonal rounds were shot in the 70s or lower with three rounds in the 60s including a career-low 68 over the final 18 holes of her first-place finish.
Returning for her fifth year, Isaacson was likewise twice selected as the SoCon Women's Golfer of the Week and earned monthly plaudits in October. She posted four top-five individual finishes during the season, winning the Aggie Invitational back in the fall with a school-record, three-round score of 206 (69-70-67). Twenty-six of her 27 seasonal rounds were shot at 70-or-better with three carded in the 60s including a career-low round of 66 at the Jupiter Women's Invitational in the fall. Isaacson also paced WCU to third at the conference championship – the program's best since 2007 – with a fourth-place individual finish.
Western Carolina's historically successful 2022-23 season saw the squad claim an unprecedented four, team championships that included three straight to open the fall portion of the schedule. The Catamount scoring five helped rewrite many of the program's records, posting three of the top four 18-hole round scores and four of the top five team 54-hole scores, shattering the all-time best three-round tally with an 848 (278-286-284) carded in winning the Aggie Invitational in the fall.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
2023 SoCon Women's Golf Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Anna Morgan, Sr., Furman
Freshman of the Year: Brie Mapanao, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year: Courtney Gunter, Western Carolina
2023 All-Southern Conference Team
Hollie Muse, Sr., ETSU
Sophie Bert, So., ETSU
Anna Morgan, Sr., Furman
Chloe Johnson, Fr., Furman
Kate Song, So., Mercer
Grace Holcomb, So., UNCG
Dorota Zalewska, Sr., Chattanooga
Brie Mapanao, Fr., Western Carolina
Elizabeth Lohbauer, So., Western Carolina
Madison Isaacson, 5th, Western Carolina
SoCon All-Freshman Team
Chloe Johnson, Furman
Faith Johnson, Furman
Julia Baeumken, UNCG
Kera Healey, Chattanooga
Brie Mapanao, Western Carolina
