(Editor's note: MSUB Athletics release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – After collecting her first collegiate victory, Montana State University Billings senior Kinsey Irvin has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
Irvin claimed the title at the South Dakota Mines Hardrocker Invitational last Tuesday, posting a career-best two-round score of 155 (79-76) to top the field of 45 competitors. “I am really proud of Kinsey and the work she put in this summer,” said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. “I told her she had the talent to win and be first-team all-GNAC, and it is good to see her starting to fulfill her potential.”
It was the Lewistown native’s first collegiate victory, and was the 10th total in MSUB women’s golf program history. The field of 45 competitors was tied for the fourth most among the Yellowjackets’ 10 individual tournament wins, dating back to the program’s inception during the 2001-02 season. “The key to playing well at this course is getting a good shot off the tee and hitting the correct spot on the green,” Irvin commented after her victory last Tuesday. “I did both of those things better today than I did yesterday. Overall this was a good tournament for the ‘Jackets.”
Irvin sat in a tie for second place after the first day of the event, as she shot a 79 on the par-72, 5,876-yard Golf Club at Red Rock. Irvin followed by matching her career best with a 76 on Monday, shaving off three strokes and claiming the title by two strokes at the event.
It was the third time in Irvin’s career she has matched her single-round low, and was the second time in two weeks she made that achievement. Her previous two-round best was a 157, which she attained in the team’s opening event of the season at the Saint Martin’s Invitational two weeks ago.
This is MSUB’s first women’s golf player of the week award this season and the first for the program since Avery Gill earned the honor last spring after tying for first place at the Hardrocker Invitational. Irvin and the Yellowjackets are currently in action at the RJGA Shootout at Estrella, running Monday and Tuesday at Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz.
Also, for the 10th time in school history both Montana State University Billings soccer programs claimed the Team Academic Award announced by the United Soccer Coaches last week.
The Yellowjacket women – now in its 25th season of competition – won the honor for the 19th time while the men claimed their 10th honor. The award is reserved for soccer teams in the United States who maintain a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. A total of 609 men’s and women’s soccer programs received the honor, and MSUB was 1 of 93 institutions to have both its men’s and women’s teams recognized.
The Yellowjacket women’s soccer team held a 3.54 GPA during the 2020-21 academic year, and had 10 players selected to last spring’s GNAC academic all-conference team. “I am so proud of our student-athletes for their continued commitment to success in the classroom,” said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. “For them to manage all of last year, through a pandemic that caused so much disappointment in just about every facet of life, but still show up each day with a drive and a desire to perform well in the classroom really speaks volumes to their character. Our women’s soccer student-athletes continue to set a fantastic standard for the other students at MSUB, and I am very proud of them for that.”
MSUB’s men’s soccer team posted the second-highest team GPA of any GNAC team during the 2020-21 academic year, with a collective mark of 3.48. Seven total players from the men’s soccer team earned academic all-GNAC honors last year. “This is an outstanding honor to once again receive this team academic award,” said MSUB men’s soccer head coach Thomas Chameraud. “This is a testament to the work that our players are putting in the classroom. Our players know that when they commit to our program, they need to get their degree with the highest possible GPA. Congratulations to all of our players for achieving a 3.48 team GPA which is the highest team GPA since I have been at MSUB.”
Both soccer teams are in action this week with conference matches on the road. The MSUB women (4-2-1, 1-1 GNAC) play at Saint Martin’s University on Thursday at 1 p.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Mountain and at Western Oregon University on Saturday at 11 a.m. Pacific/noon Mountain. The MSUB men (2-3-1) open their conference schedule on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Mountain kickoff at No. 17 Seattle Pacific University.
