Co-host of “Good Morning America” and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan along with tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Rob Gronkowski will host the first national USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, presented by the U.S. Polo Assn., Aug. 5.
The show will honor the top players from around the country and name the national player of the year in each sport. Among the awards that will be presented are the top girls and boys high school golfer of the year. Also, helping with the ceremony is four-time PGA Tour winner Ryan Palmer. All of the nominees in the girls category are listed below. If you missed the boys list, here it is.
The show will also feature Shaquille O’Neal, Aaron Rodgers, Chipper Jones, Sue Bird, Kevin Garnett, Martin St. Louis, Monica Aldama, Jennie Finch, Laurie Hernandez and more.
Recording artist DJ Khaled and ESPN’s Charly Arnolt will host the national red-carpet segments, where they’ll interview some of the top high school athletes from around the country and highlight their performances over the last year.
The on-demand national awards show will debut at 8 p.m. Eastern Aug. 5 on the show website. It will also be available to watch on YouTube and USA TODAY News and USA TODAY Sports Wire Channels, available on Roku, Samsung, and on most smart televisions.
Here’s a look at the top golfers vying for the national award.
Editor’s note: Alaska, California and Hawaii are not included because they didn’t play last year.
Ashlee Allen was named to the Girls All-State Second Team by the Alabama Golf Association has several Southeastern Junior Golf Tour wins. She also placed in the top 15 at the Women’s Stroke Play Championship. She is headed to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Katie Stinchcomb completes her impressive Pinnacle career by capturing the state’s top golfer honor. A three-time All-State selection, including first-team honors as a junior and senior, Stinchcomb led Pinnacle to a second-place finish at the Division I state championships and first place spots at the High School National Invitational Tournament, Antigua Golf Invitational and Aguila State Preview. An accomplished golfer on the national stage, where she has competed in the Girls PGA Championship and IMG Junior World Championships, Stinchcomb will continue her golf career next season at the University of Memphis.
North Little Rock High School’s MacKenzie Lee continued her reign atop the Arkansas prep golf scene to be named the state’s top girls player of the year. Lee, who is ranked 18th in the nation by the American Junior Golf Association, handily defended her Class 6A state title, finishing six shots clear of second place. The accomplished junior also won three other AJGA events in 2020 and is verbally committed to play for Southern Methodist University.
Jessica Mason won the Northern Colorado Athletic Conference tournament at Colorado National with a 2-under round of 70, while no one else in the field cleared 79. She likely was headed on a second trip to the Class 4A state tournament, but it was canceled because of the pandemic.
Sophia Sarrazin won the State Women’s Amateur last July at age 15. She won the Borck Junior tournament in 2019 and finished second last year. Sarrazin transferred in from Staples in Westport after her freshman season. This will be her second year at Hamden Hall.
Sussex Academy’s Hannah Lydic is only a junior and she had a season to remember this year. The nationally-ranked golfer claims the state’s top girls’ golf honor thanks to an incredibly consistent season on the links. Lydic shot under 40 in several matches this year and put up a 34 at Wild Quail in April. The Sussex Academy star is the top-ranked girls’ golfer in Delaware, according to the American Junior Golf Association, and is in the top 200 in the nation.
Kelly Shanahan had a record-breaking season. She sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the Class 2A state championship. She had a two-day total of 140 and helped the Patriots girls team to a third state championship.
LoraLie Cowart was a 2020 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Junior All-American. She has three top-5 finishes and two additional top-20 efforts in five AJGA events. She is headed to the University of Georgia.
Boise’s Emily Cadwell is one of the top girls’ golfers in the country and she had a career that will be remembered for a long time. The senior will continue her golf career at Washington State in the Pac-12. She had multiple top three finishes at the Class 5A state championship during her career. Cadwell played several great rounds of golf this year. She shot a 41 against Eagle and a 38 against Borah, Timberline and Capital, which was the best score of any golfer on the course that day.
Just a sophomore, Stevenson’s Allie Santos earned an individual victory at the Class 2A Dundee-Crown sectional and is this year’s Chicago Area Girls Golfer of the Year. Santos shot an even-par 71 in the sectional clincher, cementing the lowest round of her career and giving Stevenson a team victory in its final match of the season.
One of the top-20 ranked girls in the country and an all-state selection a year ago, Lapel High School’s continued her meteoric rise in the preps golf world, as her two-day, two-over score of 146 was good enough to hold on against fierce competition for the Indiana state title.
Shannyn Vogler won her second Mississippi Athletic Conference tournament title this year. She had the third-best 18-hole scoring average at 74.4 strokes.
Julia Misemer has already put herself among the state’s all-time great high school girls golfers, capturing three Class 6A state titles in her first three seasons. Only five other girls have done that in state history and with another state title as a senior, Misemer can join Columbus’ Jill Simpson as the only four-time champions in state history. After winning each of her first two state championships in playoffs, Misemer posted a two-day total of 144 and win by five shots over Shawnee Mission East’s Tess Roman at Hesston Golf Course. The two began the second round tied for the lead with 74s and Misemer was one down to Roman with four holes to play before making birdie on her final three holes for the title. Misemer also was named the Central Links Kansas Player of the Year in 2020.
The junior won the Kentucky girls state title in a playoff, becoming the first girls golfer from Owensboro to win the state title since 1969. A first-team all-state pick, she also added a Region 2 title to her resume.
Morgan Guepet breezed to the Division II individual state title this season and she is this year’s Lousiana Female Golf Player of the Year. Still just a freshman, Guepet registered 13 birdies in the two-round, 36-hole championship to finish 10-under-par with a total of 138, giving her a seven-stroke victory over her next-closest competitor.
After tying Leavitt teammate Morghan Dutil for the Class B individual title in 2019, Haylock came back to edge Dutil this year and claim solo state honors.
North Point High School’s Bailey Davis had one of the best high school careers in recent memory and that’s the reason why she earns Maryland’s top girls’ golf honor in 2021. Davis is headed to The University of Tennessee to continue her career on the golf course. She won multiple state championships during her time at North Point and she had another tremendous season on the links. This won’t be the last time you hear the name Bailey Davis.
Just a sophomore, Molly Smith was named the Dual County League Co-MVP in the 2020 season while playing in an all boys league. She was the runner-up at the Dual County League Tournament in November and placed eighth at the NHSGA Massachusetts High School Golf Championship, shooting a 2-over 74 at Shaker Hills Country Club. Smith is also an Honor Roll student at Westford Academy.
The senior capped a stellar career in style, winning her third state championship by firing a 70 and outlasting Ryann Breslin in a playoff. She also won a Division III title in 2019 and a Division II title in 2017. As a bonus? Marian also won the overall team title.
Simley freshman Reese McCauley won the state championship by one stroke. She became the second McCauley sister to win a state title, older sister Bella was the state champion in 2019.
New Albany’s Caroline King claims Mississippi’s top girls’ golf honor after leading her team to several championships this season and earning medals in every tournament she competed in. The junior was on a roll all season long and crushed the opposition along the way. King will look to continue her stellar career for New Albany as a senior next year.
Zibilski won the Class 2 girls state championship in 2020 by 14 strokes. She helped Springfield Catholic win a team state championship as well. Zibilski shot a 69 in the second round and was 5-under par overall for the championship.
Sami Yates won the 2020 Class AA individual state championship. The senior helped Bozeman High School win the overall team state championship by one stroke. Yates will continue her golf career at Seattle University.
Nicole Kolbas played her best golf of the year at the last event of the season with a 4-under par performance to win the Class A individual state championship. Kolbas beat the rest of the field by 12 strokes. Her performance helped Lincoln Pius X High School finish second overall at the state championship.
Clark’s Riana Mission has been the best girls’ golfer in Nevada the last few seasons, and that’s why she ends her career by securing the state’s top girls’ golf honor. The 2019 individual state champion will continue her career at the Division 1 level at the University of San Francisco. She was one of the top-ranked junior golfers in the country and had a great senior season on the links. Mission has a bright future ahead of her.
The Pinkerton sophomore is a rising star in New England golf. After narrowly missing out on the state title a year ago, Megan was carded a 78 to seal the deal this time around. She also won seven NEPGA Jr. Tour events over the summer.
Over the last year, there has not been a more dominant high school golfer in New Jersey than Katherine Lu. Her reign started last July when she won the New Jersey State Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship. She followed that with a hole-in-one on her 18th birthday. When the 2021 season started, Lu broke a school record with a 33-shot win over Allentown. The wins continued and she wrapped up her high school season by claiming the individual New Jersey state title in the Tournament of Champions. Lu leaves WW-P North as the most storied girls play ever and is headed to Michigan State University to continue her golf career.
Anya Parasher capped her season with a dramatic playoff victory over teammate Callia Ward in the 4A state finals to win her first career state title. The ABQ Academy freshman posted a round of 69 in the final, tying Ward.
Sofia Nogalo won the Section 1 Girls Championship won by three, finishing with a 3-over 76. She overcame a triple-bogey on the 11th hole when she birdied four of the last five holes.
Macy Pate shot 2-under par 68 to win the 2021 North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A Women’s Golf Championship, played on the Pinehurst No. 1 course. In April, Pate placed fifth in the prestigious national competition, Drive Chip amd Putt event at Augusta, Ga.
Hannah Herbel defended her NDHSAA Class A girls golf individual state championship for the third time, shooting a two-day total of 145. She won the tournament by three strokes.
New Albany’s Anna Ritter had a season to remember in 2020. She took fifth place at the state championship, individually. The junior played an important role in leading her team to a state championship.
Jenni Roller captured her second straight state individual title and led her team to third in the tournament.
Baylee Hammericksen’s golf season was canceled due to the pandemic, which ruined her goal of being a four-time state champion. When she last was able to golf for school in 2019, she set a 4A/3A/2A/1A tournament record by shooting 5-under. She will golf for the University of Oregon.
The junior won the individual district title, led East High School to a team state championship and a district championship. She is ranked in the top 150 nationally by the American Junior Golf Association and she is the top-ranked golfer in the state.
Brooke Brennan shot a 10-over par 82 to win the state’s Girls High School Golf State Championship. She was Bay View’s first champion since 2003.
Oceanside’s Emma Schimpf was by far the best golfer in the state in 2020. She won the Class 3A state championship for the second straight year and shot an impressive 11-under par to win the state title. That is a state record for the lowest score at a 36-hole championship. The senior beat the rest of the competition by five strokes.
Shannon McCormick fired a 5-over 77 to capture the opening round of the girls City Meet. She is headed to Augustana University.
The 3-time Big 11 conference player of the year was 10 under in her final 27 holes with no bogeys at this year’s state tournament. She finished her 4-year career with a 9 hole average of 35 and is headed to Xavier.
The best golfer in Texas put away the Lone Star State’s Class 6A title chase when she bounced back from a double-bogey on No. 15 to make her putts down the stretch for a final of 74. The leader of the Lady Cats will be back next year for a title defense on the Texas greens.
Timpview High School’s Sunbin Seo is only a junior, but she was the most impressive golfer in the state of Utah this year. Seo claims the state’s top girls’ golf honor after winning the Class 5A individual state championship. She shot a 7-under par and a 5-under par in the final round. She is the biggest reason why Timpview won the team state championship as well.
Tia Martinez won the low individual score of the day and a Division II three-peat last fall. Martinez went out in 43 but closed with a 39 on the back nine that included a birdie at the par-3 14th — one of just four birdies all day.
Melanie Walker showed composure and consistency as she handled a pandemic-shortened campaign for the high school golf postseason. Perfecting a rhythm she started early in the spring, the Junior golfer handled district, region, team and open tournaments in back-to-back weeks. She eventually came away with a state title, which she won after completing 17 holes without a bogey. Walker maintained her consistency in the summer, finishing second at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship Qualifier.
Even in an abbreviated senior season, West Seattle High School’s Lauryn Nguyen continued her dominant career. The former state champion won her fourth consecutive Metro League individual title this past season. The trophy case for Nguyen doesn’t have much room left in it, as she leaves West Seattle with WJGA Girls Player of the Year, AJGA Rolex All-American and AJGA Rolex All-American accolades. Nguyen has signed to play at Northwestern University.
Parkersburg’s Molly McLean is the West Virginia girls’ Golfer of the Year. The junior won by one stroke to claim the state title. She earned an invite to the High School Golf National Invitational.
It’s hard to imagine anyone having a better season than Arrowhead’s Jessica Guiser. Just a freshman, she was Milwaukee’s top golfer after winning the Division 1 state championship. She was also first-team All-State in 2020 and was named the Player of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin.
Spielman won the Class 4A individual state championship in 2020. The sophomore had the lowest score of any golfer in the state. Spielman overcame a double bogey in the final round of the state competition to hold off the rest of the field by three strokes.