At the end of the PAC12 Conference Championship, it was announced that the PAC12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award went to golfers from Lithuania. This award is given for overall achievements in both science and sports. She is the third University of Arizona student in history to earn the conference’s highest individual academic honor.
After graduating with extremely high marks, GB Starkutė became the leader of the Arizona University golf team and regularly placed in the top ten of various tournaments.
Last year, GB Starkutė completed her bachelor’s degree in finance with an impressive total score of 3.945 out of the maximum possible 4. This year she is successfully completing her master’s studies. Earlier this year, she won her first NCAA tournament and also posted her personal best single-round par of -8. She was named the PAC12 Conference Player of the Week for the first time this season.
The PAC12 conference features 11 men’s and women’s teams, with a total of over 200 golfers. It is an honor to know that this conference includes Stanford, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Washington State and several private universities with strong traditions in golf and all sports.
“Receiving the Scholar-Athlete award in my senior year is my greatest achievement. Before the decision, I knew that I was shortlisted, but I also knew that there are a lot of good players from good universities who also deserve this recognition. I really didn’t expect to be chosen. It helped me realize that all the years of work I put into science, training and golf were being noticed by other people and coaches. This is a great honor for me and I am very happy. When I learned this news while on the golf course, even tears appeared in my eyes,” admitted GB Starkutė.
Previously, representatives of the University of Arizona have received the “Scholar-Athlete” prizes twice. In 2017, Wanasa Zhou received such an assessment, and in 2008 – Alison Walshe.
GB Starkutė is open – when she arrived in the USA, she immediately knew that both science and sports were of equal importance to her.
“When there is an opportunity to study and play the sport you love, you cannot miss such a responsibility. I learned how to combine time and balance golf and studies. On the golf course, I focused on sports, development, work that will help the team perform well. In studies, all attention was paid to a good education, understanding of subjects, good grades.
It helped to know that if I got a good education, I would have something to fall back on in the future even if golf didn’t happen by accident. Since childhood, my parents taught me that if you aim for several things and want to achieve something, you will find time and opportunities for everything. You just need to not give up and work as long as it takes until you see the results. For the fact that I was able to coordinate everything, I really thank my parents, because their values led me forward”, said GB Starkutė.
The University of Arizona finished sixth in the PAC12 Conference Championship. In the personal standings, GB Starkutė took the 16th position among 57 players with a PAR -1 total three-day result.
Good play throughout the season allowed GB Starkuta to enjoy another rating. She is included in the symbolic selection of the PAC12 conference. Teammate Carolina Melgrati also got into it. The symbolic team of the season consists of 12 golfers.
In her last NCAA season, GB Starkutė has two final competitions – “Regionals” and the NCAA Championships.
Tags: NCAA season exclusive recognition Starkuta
