Wooster has Six Named CSC Academic All-District® for Women's At-Large Sports

College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Release

Melissa Burtscher, Grace Lindgren, Kenzie Morris, Olivia Nengel, Ciara O'Connor, and Maddie Peek from The College of Wooster were selected for the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District® Team for women's at-large sports, which was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Burtscher, Wooster's most successful women's golfer, capped her Fighting Scots' career as the North Coast Athletic Conference runner-up, which marked the program's highest individual conference finish in program history. The senior became a two-time first-team All-NCAC performer with the runner-up 218. Burtscher's record weekend saw the senior match the program's single-round record with an opening-day 72, then she went out and broke it with a day-two 71 at the NCAC Championships. The three-time All-NCAC performer's play at the conference championships lowered her season average to 79.1, and that marked the first time a Scot posted a sub-80 season average in program history. Burtscher's 82.9 average over 71 career rounds ranks her No. 2 in program history for career average, and she graduated with program-bests for top-five finishes (18) and top-10 finishes (27). Burtscher helped the team win a program-record six tournaments this year and post a 321.5 team average, the best mark by a full 14 strokes.

The two-time CSC Academic All-District® honoree evaluated the content validity of current measures of sport participation motivation for her Independent Study. The psychology alumna was a student assistant with game operations, Williams Fitness Center, and Swigart Strength Center as a student at Wooster. She was heavily involved with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped revitalize the "Scotties" student-athlete awards banquet. The Psi Chi psychology honor society member worked at Lola's Rescue in the summers back home in Colorado.

Lindgren made an immediate impact in the lineup upon transferring to Wooster as a junior. She graduated as the program's all-time scoring leader with an average of 82.5 strokes over 40 rounds. The alumna's 80.6 average over a quad-record 22 rounds as a senior rates as the third-best single-season stroke average and she was instrumental in helping the program shatter its team scoring record by a full 14 strokes at 321.5 strokes per round. Lindgren posted seven top-five finishes en route to helping the program to a single-year-record six tournament wins. She was the medalist at the Westfield Collegiate Golf Classic with a two-day 158. Lindgren lowered her collegiate-best to 74 on the opening day of the Polar Beaver Classic and shot a 72 on the second day of the NCAC Championships.

The mathematics alumna studied the structure of neural networks, methods to optimize them, and coded an example of optimizing it for her Independent Study. At Wooster, Lindgren was a member of Delta Theta Psi sorority and was the head campus captain of The Hidden Opponent, a mental health awareness organization for student-athletes. As a senior, Lindgren served as co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and led initiatives like the group's annual holiday gift drive to support the Wayne County Department of Job and Family Services. She co-hosted a weekly radio show on the campus student station and worked at Douglas Lake Bar and Steakhouse when home on academic breaks. This summer, Lindgren is working at Westmoreland Golf Club in Chicago, Illinois, and is tasked with organizing all tournament operations. Come fall, she will move to Arizona and pursue a master's degree at Northern Arizona University while serving as a graduate assistant with the women's golf team.

Morris, a junior, was Wooster's top offensive player in women's lacrosse, scoring 61 points on 50 goals and 11 assists. The three-time all-conference midfielder moved into the top-10 all-time in scoring in program history as a junior and became the sixth player in program history to surpass 175 career draw controls. She had 63 draw controls for her third straight year with over 60 and added a career-high 20 caused turnovers. Morris logged seven games with at least five draw controls and scorched Transylvania University and Trine University with a pair of seven-goal games.

The environmental studies major is a conservation intern at The Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, Ohio this summer. There, she is tasked with managing rare and invasive plans, conducting research on European garlic mustard aphid, and presenting research at conferences across Ohio. Previously, Morris was an ecological restoration and waterwatch intern while studying abroad in Australia. While abroad, Morris identified and managed invasive plan species, gaining field experience in hand weeding and brush cutting. She conducted quadrant surveys and participated in fuel-reduction burns. Additionally, Morris led volunteer and community education events focused on the importance of citizen science. On campus, Morris is a statistics spotter for home field hockey and select home men's lacrosse contests. She is currently working to implement a campus-wide campaign to remove single-use plastic from campus, is a volunteer with People to People Ministries in Wooster, is a sustainability intern, is part of the Wooster Volunteer Network, and is part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Nengel, a three-year starting back in field hockey, helped lead Wooster to a pair of top-10 statistical rankings, as the Scots shut out eight of their 13 opponents in the fall to rank fifth nationally with a 62 percent shutout rate. Wooster had just a 0.68 goals-against average, which ranked ninth within all of Div. III. Nengel was more active offensively as a senior, finishing with a career-high 23 shots. Nengel's goal on the year came in a 4-0 win at Oberlin College October 8, and that was the first of three straight games the Scots did not allow a single shot.

The history alumna researched the social and economic impact of the Great Migration on Akron, Ohio for her Independent Study. Nengel spent last summer as an intern at Pharos Capital Group in Texas. There, she led the preparation of initial syndicate financing pitch materials for a late stage, leveraged buyout of a $75 million healthcare platform. She constructed free cash flow analysis for potential acquisitions to understand the impact of variable cost of enterprise value and tested it for functionality. Additionally, Nengel conducted independent research on multiple platforms to identify future potential acquisition targets. Elsewhere, Nengel was awarded a micro fellowship to create content and manage social media platforms for the Monday Night Mile charity race in Wooster. She was the vice chair of the Wooster Volunteer Network and was a campus tour guide.

O'Connor, a senior on both the field hockey and lacrosse teams, turned in a bounce-back season after missing most of her junior year with injury. O'Connor started in all 13 games in field hockey and was a key back in helping Wooster finish in the top-10 nationally in shutouts per game (fifth) and goals-against average (ninth). Offensively, O'Connor passed out five assists and scored a goal, with the score coming in Wooster's 3-0 win over Earlham College in late September. Three of O'Connor's assists came in a win over Oberlin in mid-October. In lacrosse, O'Connor started 15 games, scoring 29 goals and passing out 10 assists. The senior scooped up 15 groundballs and caused four turnovers. O'Connor netted four goals in two separate lacrosse games this spring.

The chemistry alumna's Independent Study was a method development of determining the pKa value of PFAS compounds. She was an intern at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. There, O'Connor gained advanced skills in data analysis, laboratory work, and presentations. She also worked at ShopRite during her time as an undergraduate. O'Connor will be attending Carnegie Mellon University this fall to begin pursing a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Peek started all 13 games as a senior and ranked third on the team with 14 points. She earned a second all-conference honor and was a first-team selection as a senior. She passed out a team-leading six assists and ranked third on the squad with four goals. Peek's 14 points marked a career-high as did the six assists, while the four goals matched the senior's 2022 total. Peek scored three times during an 8-0 conference win over Oberlin and had a hand in three of Wooster's four goals in a non-conference game against the Yeowomen in early October. She was a three-year starter, and would have been a four-year one, but Wooster did not play during the COVID year.

The psychology alumna compared academics, social wellbeing, and anxiety in off-season, in-season, and non-athletes with ADHD. She studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain as a junior and studied Spanish, psychology, and Spanish history while in Spain. Elsewhere, Peek was a recreational counselor for an ADHD summer treatment program in Cincinnati prior to her senior year. She designed and led activities to enhance self-esteem, social skills, and athletic abilities in children with ADHD and with other mental health diagnoses. She provided intensive behavioral therapy through a point system, positive reinforcement, individualized plans, and social skills training. As part of the counseling program, Peek assessed and tracked daily clinical progress and wrote a final report that evaluated each child's progress. Earlier in her Wooster studies, Peek was a research assistant at Brightspot Families. On campus, Peek was a peer tutor in psychology and a teaching assistant within the major. She was a volunteer with Goodwill Industries. She will be working as a clinical research coordinator at Nationwide Children's Hospital for two years before applying to Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology.

Each school with a CSC membership may submit up to six Academic All-District® honorees for women's at-large sports. For Wooster, those sports include field hockey, golf, and women's lacrosse. Each nominee must have at least a 3.50 GPA, be at least a sophomore in academic standing, and meet the playing criteria for the sport within the at-large contest. The CSC Academic All-America® Team for women's at-large sports is scheduled to be announced on July 16.