Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina second-year head women's golf coach
Anne Marie Covar announced the addition of two transfers to join the Catamount roster for the 2025-26 season. Covar signed graduate transfer
Emma Carlisle Niebauer and sophomore transfer
Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir as Covar continues to fill the WCU roster.
Niebauer comes to Cullowhee after two seasons at Queens University of Charlotte, and Steinarsdôttir spent the 2024-25 season on the roster at North Alabama. The two join WCU returnees in senior
Sadler Miller, sophomore
Annalee Caveney, and incoming freshman Mia Andrade (Chapin, S.C.), who was announced in December 2024.
EC Niebauer played two seasons at Queens University where she posted a scoring average of 79.08 over 52 career rounds. In 2023-24, she averaged 79.69 over 26 rounds with a low round of 73, improving her stroke average in 2024-25 to 78.46 with a career-low round of 71.
Niebauer started her college career at NCAA Division III Sewanee, The University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn. She finished her freshman season in 2022-23 as a first-team All-Southern Athletic Association (SAA) selection and the SAA Newcomer of the Year. Niebauer played in seven tournaments and 17 total rounds as a freshman, averaging 78.41 strokes per round with a low round of 72. She finished her first year ranked 68th nationally in the GolfStat ranks and was among the Top 15 freshmen in the country.
A four-year letterwinner and two-time individual conference champion in golf, Niebauer graduated from High Point Central High School. She was a three-time regional qualifier, claiming the regional championship as a senior. She also lettered in swimming as a prep, qualifying for the high school regionals three times and advancing to the state championship in the pool as a senior.
A product of Akranes, Iceland, located along the western coast and north of the capital city of Reykjavik, Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir competed in seven events last season for the Lions, including six in stroke play and once in match play. She was part of the scoring five a total of five times, twice seeded first and three times pegged as the No. 3 seed. She made her collegiate debut in North Alabama's first-ever stroke play tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Over 17 seasonal rounds in stroke play at UNA, Steinarsdôttir turned in a scoring average of 79.71 as a true freshman. She made her collegiate debut in stroke play at the Huntsville.org, finishing tied for 28th in helping the Lions to a runner-up team finish. She posted a career-best finish in a 19th-place tie individually at the Chris Banister Golf Classic in March 2025. Steinarsdôttir carded her career-low single-round of 76 three times.
Steinarsdôttir helped the women's golf team boast UNA's highest team GPA in the spring 2025 semester (3.92).
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