Women's Golf 04.20.25 By: Daniel Gallegos

Ellen Spigner named unanimous First Team All-GAC; Averi Mickelson and Jaylee Castro also lauded

Women's Golf 04.20.25 By: Daniel Gallegos

Ellen Spigner named unanimous First Team All-GAC; Averi Mickelson and Jaylee Castro also lauded

FORT SMITH, Ark. – On Sunday, the Great American Conference announced its annual all-conference selections and superlative award winners for the 2024-25 women's golf season at the pre-championship tournament awards ceremony at the Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

OFFICIAL GAC RELEASE

In that announcement, Arkansas Tech junior golfer Ellen Spigner was unanimously named to the First Team All-GAC, while junior golfer Averi Mickelson and sophomore golfer Jaylee Castro also garnered all-conference acclaim. Mickelson was named Second Team while Castro was Honorable Mention.

ELLEN SPIGNER
For the third time in as many years, Spigner has received all-conference recognition, but this is her first time being named First Team All-GAC after being a second team selection each of the first two years.

This year, the Nashville, Arkansas native is once more one of the top golfers in the region and in the country as she is currently ranked No. 60 in DII and No. 6 in the Central Region.

Having played in all nine tournaments thus far, Spigner has played 22 total rounds and has a current adjusted stroke average of 75.0 and has posted four top-10 finishes, a pair of top-three finishes and one tournament win.

That individual medalist came at the Patriot Invitational this past March. She would shoot one-under for the tournament and topped a field that featured 20 top-100 ranked DII golfers.

AVERI MICKELSON
In her second year at Tech, Mickelson, a transfer from Bowling Green State University, Mickelson has made marked improvement this year and is currently the No. 16-ranked golfer in the region with a adjusted stroke average of 76.1 over 22 rounds.

Last year, Mickelson ended her first season at Tech as the No. 60-ranked golfer in the region and had a 78.2 adjusted stroke average across 23 rounds.

This season, Mickelson has registered four top-10 individual finishes and has twice finished a tournament at even par. The first of those saw Mickelson finish fifth out of 120 at the Grace Shin Regional Preview back in October, while her most-recent was at the Spring Regional Preview earlier in April. She would finish ninth out of 107 at that event.

JAYLEE CASTRO
In her second year at Tech, Castro has also made significant improvement this year and is currently the No. 29-ranked golfer in the region with an adjusted stroke average of 76.9 over 22 rounds.

Last year, Castro ended her first season at Tech as the No. 65-ranked golfer in the region and had a 78.6 adjusted stroke average across 23 rounds.

This season, Castro has registered three top-10 individual finishes. Her best score and finish this season was an even-par performance at the Grace Shin Regional Preview back in October. At that event, Castro finished fifth out of 120.