Borja, Chun Honored with All-Big Ten Second Team Accolades
4/26/2023 11:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- University of Michigan women's golf senior Hailey Borja and junior Monet Chun were both honored today (Wednesday, April 26) by the conference office with All-Big Ten second team selections. Senior Anika Dy was Michigan's selection as its Big Ten Sportsmanship accolade.
Borja became the first four-time All-Big Ten honoree in program history with her second team honor. She was named to the first team in last year's Big Ten championship season (2021), while grabbing second team honors three times (2020, '22, '23). After a first team selection as well as Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2021, Chun earns her third straight All-Big Ten selection as she joined Borja on the second team.
"It's no surprise that both Hailey and Monet have earned all-conference honors," said U-M head coach Jan Dowling. "They have been our leaders all season long both on and off the golf course. Their consistent play and ability to go low earned them this great honor. The Big Ten is a very strong women's golf conference, and if you're on an all-conference team, you are a top player in the nation. I give them so much credit for their hard work over a long period of time, to earn this accolade."
The Maize and Blue duo were the lone Wolverines to start all 11 events this season as Borja earned a team-best five top individual finishes while Chun had two of her own. In a scoring battle that waged throughout the entire season, Borja holds the edge with her career-low-pace 73.09 per round average (third lowest average in program history), while Chun is just behind at 73.38 per round.
"It's an honor to be All-Big Ten again," said Borja. "It's also a relief. Seeing all the hard work and determination that has gotten me to this point of my career continue to pay off means a great deal. This is a tough, talented and challenging conference and getting recognized means so much. If you would have asked me if I would have been honored four straight years, I would have laughed. Accomplishing that is just so special to me and my family."
In her fourth season, Borja is tied for the team lead with 11 rounds at-or-below par; however, she leads with a single-season best nine sub-par tallies -- including four sub-70 rounds. With her nine, she became just the second Wolverine in history with 20-plus in a career (27) and is three behind U-M's all-time leader Ashley Lau (30). Three times she posted a career-best-tying total of 68, twice at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate (Sept. 19-20; first and third rounds) as well as at the Windy City Classic (Oct. 3-4; second round).
With those two career-best rounds in Tennessee, she holds the lowest 54-hole total of the season with her career-low 207 (-6) at the Mercedes, which was three shots better than her prior best. In her stellar career, she has started 38 consecutive events, not missing an event her entire career and is carrying a 73.34 average, which ranks just behind U-M's all-time leader Lau (73.24).
"Earning All-Big Ten honors is truly an honor," said Chun. "There are many talented golfers on the list and to be part of that, especially with my teammate, is a very special feeling. I am very proud to represent Michigan and show people how great this program is."
Tied for Borja for the team lead with 11 rounds at-or-below par, Chun has tallied a single-season career best with eight sub-par rounds, including a season-low and team-low-tying 67 (-5) in the second round of the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 15-16). In fact, with that tally, Chun earned her second medalist honor of her career sharing the Lady Buckeye title with Maryland's Patricie Mackova as they each posted 208 (-8) totals.
In addition to the individual win, Chun highlighted her season by participating in the prestigious Augusta National Women's Amateur, where she became just the second Wolverine to advance to the final round on Augusta National, Borja being the other in 2022. In the end she tied for 14th (219). For her career, Chun has started 30 events and is carrying a 73.72 scoring average.
The Wolverines will now wait to see if they will move on to NCAA Regional play for the seventh time in the last eight tries. The Selection Show is Wednesday (April 26) at 1 p.m. on the Golf Channel.
2022-23 Big Ten Conference Women's Golf Awards
Big Ten Golfer of the Year: Grace Wang, Illinois
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Dianna Lee, Northwestern
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Emily Fletcher, Northwestern
Mary Fossum Award Winner (lowest scoring average): Grace Wang, Illinois
First Team
Nicha Kanpai, Maryland
Dianna Lee, Northwestern
Jieni Li, Northwestern
Patricie Mackova, Maryland
Caley McGinty, Ohio State
Lauryn Nguyen, Northwestern
Kelly Sim, Northwestern
Crystal Wang, Illinois
Second Team
HAILEY BORJA, MICHIGAN
MONET CHUN, MICHIGAN
Kary Hollenbaugh, Ohio State
Isabella McCauley, Minnesota
Lauren Peter, Ohio State
Valentina Rossi, Michigan State
Kelli Ann Strand, Nebraska
Momo Sugiyama, Purdue
Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees
Crystal Wang, Illinois
Jordan Amelon, Iowa
Alexis Florio, Indiana
Angela Garvin, Maryland
ANIKA DY, MICHIGAN
Shannon Kennedy, Michigan State
Leah Herzog, Minnesota
Megan Whittaker, Nebraska
Jennifer Cai, Northwestern
Jillian Bourdage, Ohio State
Isha Dhruva, Penn State
Danielle du Toit, Purdue
Nicole Ewing, Rutgers
Emily Lauterbach, Wisconsin
All-Big Ten Championship Team
Leigha Devine, Rutgers
Emily Lauterbach, Wisconsin
Patricie Mackova, Maryland
Isabella McCauley, Minnesota
Lauren Peter, Ohio State
Kelly Sim, Northwestern
Isabel Sy, Illinois
Crystal Wang, Illinois
Players Mentioned
