Michigan Golf Journal June 2020

Big Ten Player of the Year Four members of the Michigan State women’s golf team earned All-Big Ten, including sophomore Valery Plata named Big Ten Golfer of the Year . Plata – who also won the Sportsmanship award – was joined on the All-Big Ten First Team by senior Allyson Geer-Park and junior Yurika Tanida. Senior Paz Marfa Sans was selected to the second team. “It’s a very exciting day for us to have four players earn All-Big Ten honors and for Valery to be named Player of the Year,” MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “Valery is an amazing young woman and had a breakout year. She finished in the top 20 of all but one tournament and winning the Tar Heel Invitational in the fall was an outstanding accomplishment.” The four All-Big Ten selections are the most ever for the Spartan program . Plata, who hails from Floridablanca, Colombia, is the sixth Big Ten Golfer of the Year from MSU overall and marks the 3 rd time in the last 4 seasons a Spartan has garnered the conference honor (2018, 2017 – Sarah Burnham). Plata led the Spartans with a 72.37 scoring average. At the Tar Heel, Plata recorded the second-lowest 54- hole tournament total in school history with an 11-under-par 205 (69, 68, 68). She and the Spartans outdueled a field that included No. 2-ranked Wake Forest, 2019 national champion Duke and No. 9-ranked Arkansas, and a total of seven teams in the top 20. Geer-Park ended her career with Michigan State and turned pro as the all-time leader in career scoring average at 72.87. The native of Brighton is the first player in program history to be a four- time First Team All-Big Ten honoree . Tanida had the best year of her career as her 72.84 scoring average was nearly a stroke and a half lower than her sophomore year average. Marfa Sans is now a three- time All-Big Ten selection. Her 72.94 scoring average in 2019- 20 was the second-lowest of her career. MGJ MSU’s Valery Plata Named B1G Golfer of the Year Record Four Women Spartans Earn All-Conference Honors