The Sun Conference announced late Tuesday afternoon their 2021-22 award winners that will represent the conference for the NAIA National Awards. St. Thomas University (STU) Women's Golfer, Serah Khanyereri, was selected as the Female A.O. Duer Scholarship Award nominee.
The A.O. Duer Scholarship Award was named in honor of the NAIA's former executive secretary who served the association for 26 years. The A.O. Duer Scholarship Award has been annually presented since 1967 to a male and female junior student-athlete in any sport who has excelled in scholarship, character, and citizenship.
Khanyereri marks the fifth time a St. Thomas female student-athlete has won the award since 2013, seventh overall. The last time the award was represented by an STU female student-athlete was in 2017 by Kelli Kosydor ('17) from women's volleyball.
Khanyereri, a 2021-22 Sun Conference All-Academic honoree and NAIA All-American, carries a 3.75 GPA. The Sun Conference Golfer of the Month (September), Khanyereri finished ninth in this year's NAIA National Tournament becoming the Bobcats' first multi-year All-American in school history.
"Serah has been a tremendous asset to our golf program both academically and on the golf course," STU Head Coach Steve Evans said. "STU launched our women's golf program three years ago and Serah's presence the past two years has directly resulted in building a successful program in both areas. In addition, Serah's motivation, and desire to improve has directly rubbed off on other members of both our women's and men's golf team and as a result, both teams have improved. Serah is a very talented and accomplished golfer, but she is willing to help other players during practice or at tournaments get better."
St. Thomas has had a nominee represent The Sun Conference at the national level eight of the last nine years (no records can be found from 2015). Khanyereri will now move forward into the national voting along with Sports information Director of the Year, Michelle Murch. The national awards winners will be released in mid-September and honored at the NAIA National Convention in April 2023.
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