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Agnello and Brightwell Repeat on NGCA All-American Scholar Team
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July 8, 2013
Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia women’s golfers Nicole Agnello (Longwood, Fla.) and Elizabeth Brightwell (Nellysford, Va.) have been named to the 2013 National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team. It marks the 10th consecutive year at least one Cavalier golfer has been honored by the organization. That duo is among the 644 golfers from the Division I, II and III ranks to earn the distinction.
It marks the fourth consecutive year Agnello has been honored. She becomes the second Virginia golfer to be honored four times during her career. Former UVa standout Leah Wigger was named to the NGCA Scholar Team four times from 2004-2007.
It is the second consecutive season Brightwell has received the award.
The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 and student-athletes must have competed in at least 50 percent (Division I) or 66 percent (Division II & III) of the college’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
Agnello battled back from a wrist injury that forced her out of the lineup for almost an entire year to appear in five tournaments during the season. She was in UVa’s lineup for both the ACC Championships and the NCAA East Regional. Her best finish came at the UCF Challenge where she was the Cavaliers’ No. 3 scorer.
Brightwell played in all 10 tournaments for the Cavaliers and helped Virginia reach the NCAA Regionals. She posted a stroke average of 76.07 and had the team’s lowest round against par, shooting 4-under 68 to lead Virginia to the Bryan National Collegiate title in March. She placed fourth at that event, turning in a career-best score of even par 216.
Brightwell was previously named to the ACC 2013 All-Academic team for women’s golf.
The National Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches. The NGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the NGCA represents over 400 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.