University Southern California Trojans
Salas, Popov, McCloskey Earn All-Pac-10 First Team
April 26, 2011 | Women's Golf
April 26, 2011
Senior Lizette Salas, junior Lisa McCloskey and freshman Sophia Popov, all integral in USC's rise to No. 1 in the rankings this year, were named to the 2011 All-Pac-10 first team, the conference announced on Tuesday (April 26).
The award was Salas' third consecutive Pac-10 first team honor (and fourth overall) and the first each for McCloskey, a first-year transfer from Pepperdine, and Popov. Additionally, sophomore Cyna Rodriguez earned Pac-10 honorable mention honors for the second year in a row. The last time USC had three golfers on the Pac-10 first team was 2008 (the year of Troy's last NCAA title).
All were key in USC's win at last week's 2011 Pac-10 Championships, where the Trojans claimed the program's fourth conference crown. Popov won the individual title in playoff as well.
Salas, who is working to become USC's first-ever four-time All-America, has had a great senior season thus far with six top 7 finishes and seven in the top 14 in eight starts, including a tie for sixth at the 2011 Pac-10 Championships. She leads the team in stroke average at 71.67, which would be good for third-best ever in a season at USC.
Popov, arguably the top freshman in the country and ranked No. 2 by Golfweek.com after seven straight top 7 finishes, has won three tournaments this year, including the Pac-10 Championship. She is second on the team in stroke average at 71.88 (which would be fifth-best all-time) and has a team-best six rounds in the 60s.
McCloskey, ranked No. 4 in the country by Golfweek.com, has got off to a fast start as a Trojan with six top 11 finishes this season. She is third on the squad in stroke average at 72.00 and opened the season with three consecutive fourth-place finishes. She missed the final round of the Pac-10 Championships with a rib injury but is listed as probable for the upcoming NCAA West Regionals. This year, she also played as an amateur in the LPGA's 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
USC has had at least three golfers represented on the All-Pac-10 teams each year since 2000, all under the guidance of 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston.
