SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (April 18, 2022) – For the first time in nine years, the Northern Arizona golf team placed a pair of golfers on the Big Sky All-Conference First Team with senior
Elle Kocourkova and sophomore
Ekaterina Malakhova headlining four Lumberjack postseason honorees. Kocourkova and Malakhova were named to the First Team, while senior
Aleksandra Chekalina (Third Team) and
Ashley Croft (Honorable Mention) also earned all-conference honors.
Malakhova was named to the First Team for the second consecutive year, becoming the first Lumberjack to earn a pair of All-Conference First Team nods to start her career since Stephanie Kim in 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, Kocourkova – now a four-time all-conference honoree – garnered her first career First Team award.
Malakhova and Kocourkova are the first pair of Lumberjack teammates on the First Team since Kim and Savana Bezdicek in 2013.
Malakhova heads into Monday's first round of the Big Sky Championship with a team-leading stroke average of 74.58. With four top 20 individual finishes in nine season tournaments, Malakhova posted her top finish of her sophomore campaign most recently at the Bobcat Desert Classic in fifth.
She also leads the team with eight par or better rounds, including a career-low round of 4-under par 68 at the Aggie Invitational in the fall. Her team-leading 66 birdies this season is ninth-most in program history.
In her final season as a Lumberjack, Kocourkova is enjoying her best season, averaging a career-best 74.88 strokes per round. Like Malakhova, Kocourkova has four top 20 individual finishes highlighted by her first career medalist victory last month at the Red Rocks Invitational. She was the first Lumberjack to win a tournament in four years and also became the first 'Jack to record a hole-in-one since 2017 with her ace at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic.
Kocourkova, previously an honorable mention selection in 2019 and 2020 and a Third Team honoree last year, has shot two low rounds of 4-under par 68 this season as part of her six total par or better rounds. Kocourkova also owns the team's best 54-hole score (5-under par 211) and low 36-hole score (3-under par 141) this season.
Chekalina, a four-time all-conference awardee, was named to the Third Team for the third time following a spot on the Second Team a year ago. Third on the team in scoring average at 76.58, Chekalina – like Malakhova – goes into the conference championship following her best individual finish of the season.
Tying for 10th at the Bobcat Desert Classic, Chekalina carries momentum with her at the right time of the season. Her low 54-hole score of the season, 6-over par 222, came in Phoenix at the GCU Invitational this spring.
Croft rounds out NAU's honorees as one of five golfers on the honorable mention list, also earning her fourth all-conference award. She is averaging an even 77.00 per round and is third on the team with four par or better rounds.
Croft shot a 2-under par 70 in October at Aggie Invitational during her best tournament of the season. She earned a high individual finish (tied for 11th) while recording her low 54-hole score (2-over par 218).
With their respective all-conference awards, Kocourkova, Chekalina and Croft become the sixth, seventh and eighth golfers in program history to be a four-time Big Sky honoree. Malakhova is the first two-time First Team selection since Sofia Anokhina in 2017 and 2018.
The Lumberjacks will tee off at the 2022 Big Sky Championship at Talking Stick Golf Club later this morning with the first of three rounds. The championship will run through Wednesday in Scottsdale and live scoring is available on
Golfstat.
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