By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Following up a successful freshman campaign with an even better performance in 2024-25, Simon Fraser University sophomore Dana Smith was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Player of the Year upon the announcement of the all-conference team on Friday.

GNAC Women's Golf Special Award Winners
Player of the Year	Dana Smith, Simon Fraser
Coach of the Year	Krysta Schaus, Simon Fraser
Newcomer of the Year	Zoe Garcia, Seattle Pacific
Freshman of the Year	Ella Tannenberger, Montana State Billings

 

First-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
$ Izzy Ferguson	Simon Fraser	JR	Ottawa, Ont. (Saint Mother Theresa)
@ Dana Smith	Simon Fraser	SO	Campbell River, B.C. (Carihi)
@ Lauren F. Lee	Western Washington	JR	Pleasanton, Calif. (Biola)
@$ Meera Minhas	Simon Fraser	JR	Burnaby, B.C. (IMG Academy)
@$ Kelsie  Inouye	Saint Martin's	JR	Aiea, Hawaii (Punahou)
Orraya Tipasathien	Montana State Billings	SO	Bangkok, Thailand (Daroonpat School)
+#^ Christine Cho	Northwest Nazarene	SR	Meridian, Idaho (Idaho Virtual)
@ - 2023-24 First-Team All-GNAC | $ - 2022-23 First-Team All-GNAC + - 2023-24 Second-Team All-GNAC | # - 2022-23 Second-Team All-GNAC ^-2021-22 First-Team All-GNAC

 

Second-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Chloe Tran	Simon Fraser	JR	Langley, B.C. (Walnut Grove)
@ Anaya Bhandal	Simon Fraser	JR	Surrey, B.C. (Fraser Heights)
+$ Sueah Park	Simon Fraser	JR	Langley, B.C. (Walnut Grove)
+ Hannah White	Saint Martin's	SR	Fircrest, Wash. (Wilson)
@$ Emma Worgum	Western Washington	JR	La Conner, Wash. (La Conner)
@$ Ashley Bruland	Saint Martin's	JR	Sedro-Woolley, Wash. (Mount Vernon)
Ella Tannenberger	Montana State Billings	FR	Holzgerlingen, Germany (Schonbuch-Gymnasium)
@ - 2023-24 First-Team All-GNAC | $ - 2022-23 First-Team All-GNAC + - 2023-24 Second-Team All-GNAC | # - 2022-23 Second-Team All-GNAC ?^-2021-22 First-Team All-GNAC

 
Smith, who helped lead the Red Leafs to their third straight GNAC Championships team title, ranked second in the conference this year with a scoring average of 75.0 strokes per round and tied for third place at the 2025 GNAC Championships. She competed in 21 of 23 rounds for SFU overall this season, posted five top-five finishes and made par or better three times.
 
Smith is the fourth woman in SFU history to claim the league’s top honor, joining Emily Leung (2017, 2020), Shirin Anjarwalla (2022) and teammate Meera Minhas (2024). She is also the sixth woman in conference history to win both the GNAC Freshman of the Year (2024) and the GNAC Player of the Year honors throughout her career.
 
Making her debut for Seattle Pacific this season, sophomore Zoe Garcia was selected as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year. Garcia led the Falcons during their pilot GNAC campaign, averaging 79.6 strokes per round for the best mark on the squad. She logged the team’s top single-round score of the season at 71, and had three top-10 finishes including one top-five finish.
 
Ella Tannenberger of Montana State Billings was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year. Making her collegiate debut in 2024-25, Tannenberger posted a season scoring average of 79.5 strokes per round across 22 rounds played, as she was a regular in the Yellowjackets’ lineup. Tannenberger ranked second on the team in scoring average, finished in the top-10 five times and posted a season-best score of 70. She is the third player in MSUB history to win the honor, after 2011 winner Melissa Saken and 2012 winner Cayley Fish.
 
After leading the Red Leafs to their third-straight team title at the GNAC Championships, first-year SFU head coach Krysta Schaus was voted by her peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year. Simon Fraser led the GNAC in scoring average at 301.7 strokes per round – 10.2 strokes higher than the next closest team in the conference. Under Schaus’s leadership, SFU posted a two-round team score of 607 (312-295) to win the GNAC Championships by four strokes ahead of second-place Western Washington.
 
Joining Smith on the first time from Simon Fraser were juniors Izzy Ferguson and Minhas, who were among the conference’s top players in 2024-25 as well. Minhas won the GNAC Championships individual title, carding a two-round score of 147 (76-71) at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course to headline the Red Leafs’ team victory. The third-year SFU player ranked fourth in the conference this season with a scoring average of 75.6 strokes per round, earned three top-five finishes and made par or better four times in 23 rounds played.
 
Ferguson led the GNAC in scoring average at 74.8 strokes per round and notched a fifth-place finish at the GNAC Championships. She led her team with five rounds at par or better across the 19 that she played, had six top-10 finishes and a pair of top-five finishes to earn her second all-conference honor.
 
GNAC runner-up Western Washington was represented on the all-conference team by first-team selection Lauren F. Lee and second-team pick Emma Worgum. Lee carded the third-best scoring average in the conference at 75.4 strokes per round and competed in 19 rounds in her second season with the Vikings. The 2023-24 GNAC Newcomer of the Year followed up with six top-10 finishes, a pair of top-five finishes and three rounds at par or better for the Vikings. Lee tied for third at the GNAC Championships with a two-round score of 150 (77-73). Worgum ranked second on the team in scoring average at 79.1 strokes per round, and had a pair of top-10 finishes. Her season best score among the 19 rounds she played was an even-par 72, and she tied for sixth at the GNAC Championships with a score of 152 (77-75).
 
Two other GNAC players who are headed to the NCAA West Region Championships also landed on the first team, in Orraya Tipasathien of Montana State Billings and Kelsie Inouye of Saint Martin’s. Tipasathien made history by breaking the school record for individual victories in a season, as she claimed five tournament titles throughout the year. The second-year Yellowjacket ranked sixth in the GNAC this season with a scoring average of 77.0 strokes per round, and competed in all 27 rounds for the ‘Jackets. SMU’s Inouye meanwhile picked up her third-straight first-team all-league recognition, after ranking fifth in the GNAC with a stroke average of 75.7 per round. Inouye led her team with six rounds at par or better and had six top-10 finishes including four top-five finishes.
 
Also making first-team all-GNAC was Christine Cho of Northwest Nazarene. The Nighthawk senior capped her memorable career by finishing second at the GNAC Championships, where she posted a two-round total of 148 (75-73). Cho earned all-conference in each of her four collegiate seasons, picking up first-team in 2022 and 2025 and earning second-team in both 2023 and 2024. This year she ranked 11th in the conference at 78.7 strokes per round and competed in all 19 rounds for the Nighthawks.
 
Simon Fraser also had a trio of second-team all-league selections in Chloe Tran, Anaya Bhandal and Sueah Park. Tran sits seventh in the conference in stroke average at 77.4 strokes per round, and competed in 16 rounds for SFU. Bhandal is close behind at 77.9 strokes per round, and finished in 17th place at the GNAC Championships to contribute to the team victory. Park is another experienced player earning her third all-conference recognition, after compiling a scoring average of 78.2 strokes per round in 2024-25.
 
In addition to Inouye on the first team, Saint Martin’s landed senior Hannah White and junior Ashley Bruland on the second team. White earned second-team all-GNAC for the second year in-a-row, after ranking ninth in the league with a scoring average of 77.9 strokes per round. She notched a pair of top-10 finishes and wound up 13th at the GNAC Championships with a two-round total of 157 (79-78). Bruland was third on the team in scoring average at 78.9 strokes per round, and also had a pair of top-10 finishes this season. She finished in a tie for 14th at the GNAC Championships with a two-round score of 158 (81-77).