June 10, 2010
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By Leigh Torbin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF junior women's golfer Katie Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn.) became the first Knight golfer to ever earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America accolades on Thursday morning as she was announced as a member of the women's At Large third team.
The honor adds to an impressive postseason haul by the Minnesotan. Last month she received the LPGA's Dinah Shore Award, a prestigious national honor given to the collegiate golfer who best combines success on the course, in the classroom and in the community.
Detlefsen, a junior who was also an All-Conference USA selection on the course this past year, graduated in two years with a 4.0 GPA and she has maintained that perfect mark through her first year of graduate school. Detlefsen's bachelor's degree was in advertising/public relations while she is presently working on a master's in mass communications. She was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year in April.
On the course, Detlefsen had a tremendous improvement in 2009-10 where her 77.28 stroke average was well ahead of her 79.17 from 2008-09 and 80.65 from 2007-08. For her efforts, Detlefsen was rewarded with a spot on the Conference USA third team, one of three Knights to be so honored. Detlefsen had the first five par-or-better rounds of her career this past year and two top 10 finishes after having just one during her first two years combined. Detlefsen's 218 at the FIU/Pat Bradley Invitational in October tied for the fourth-best par-72 54-hole tournament score in school history. She also had a top 20 finish in February's Hurricane Invitational as the Knights claimed their first team title since 2002. She was UCF's top finisher at both the UCF Challenge and the Tiger/Wave Classic.
Widely considered the hardest team to earn a spot on because "at large" incorporates a total of 13 different sports, Detlefsen is one of three golfers who earned a place on the third team with none making either of the top two squads. To be eligible for Academic All-America recognition, a student-athlete had to be voted first team all-district by the district's members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Instead of single-sport Academic All-America teams such as basketball and softball, the 13 women's sports which are included for At Large consideration include bowling, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, rowing, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo.
Detlefsen joins football wide receiver Rocky Ross as UCF's two ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American recipients for 2009-10. She is the first UCF student-athlete to ever earn an At Large Academic All-American award from CoSIDA. It is the 18th time in UCF's athletic history that it has seen one of its student-athletes recognized as one of the country's top student-athletes in this manner.