University of Tennessee Athletics
JESSICA SHEPLEY EARNS NGCA ALL-AMERICAN HONORABLE MENTION
May 24, 2004 | Women's Golf
May 24, 2004
OPELIKA, Ala.
By virtue of a top-10 finish at the 2004 NCAA Championships at the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala., junior Jessica Shepley (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) earned her way to National Golf Coaches Association All-American honorable mention status. The accolade is the first for the team captain.
At the national-title tournament, Shepley put together Tennessee's best NCAA Championship performance in program history with a fifth-place 286 (73-72-71-70) to best former Lady Vol standout Young-A Yang's previous standard set in 2001 with a fifth-place 288 (75-73-71-69). The fifth-place effort also tied Yang's NCAA Championship program standard set that same year.
Shepley's effort also led UT to a school-record four-day tally of 1193 (303-297-301-292), which put them in 11th place. The team total set a program four-day standard by breaking the previous record set by the 1997 edition that totaled 1197 (309-301-295-292).
Overall, Tennessee has claimed nine NGCA All-American certificates since placing Abby Pearson on the 1993 second team. Additionally, UT has advanced a Lady Vol to All-American status in seven consecutive seasons, a streak which began with Erin Kurczewski's 1998 honorable mention and was bolstered by the four-year run of Yang from 1999-2002. Sophomore Violeta Retamoza (Aguascalientes, Mexico) bridged the gap between Yang and Shepley in 2003.
