Kent State Makes it Back-To-Back Jacoby Award Titles, Captures 11th All-Time
5/18/2022 9:30:00 PM | Cross Country, Field Hockey, General, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Volleyball, Gymnastics, Women's Track & Field, Women's Lacrosse
CLEVELAND - For the second consecutive year and 11th time overall, Kent State has been honored by the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with the Jacoby Trophy, given annually to the top women's athletic program within the conference.
"Receiving the Jacoby Trophy is an incredible honor and is a testament to the hard work that is consistently put in throughout the year," Director of Athletics Randale L. Richmond said. "This is truly a department award and exemplifies our guiding principle of being student-athlete centered, coach led, and administrator supported."
The Golden Flashes competed in 11 women's sports throughout the 2021-22 campaign. Kent State took home the conference title in women's golf for the 23rd consecutive season while field hockey and gymnastics each took home a share of their regular-season titles. Women's soccer tied for second in the regular season and made the MAC championship game this past fall. Women's track and field also had a runner-up finish at the outdoor MAC championships and placed fourth at the indoor championships. Women's lacrosse punched their first ticket to the post-season with a fourth-place finish in the MAC standings.
Golf continued its conference dominance with Emily Price capturing Golfer of the Year honors and Jennifer Gu taking home Freshman of the Year accolades. Kent State placed five golfers on the all-conference team.
Field Hockey was ranked in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll for eight consecutive weeks and earned three victories over Power 5 programs. Azure Fernsler was honored for her goaltending prowess, earning MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors as well. She was one of four first-team all-conference honorees and the Flashes added two more to the all-region team.
The gymnastics team had a program record five student-athletes earn all-conference honors and four gymnasts qualified for individual NCAA Regional competition. The team posted its third-highest score all-time to clinch a share of the conference title in the regular season finale at Western Michigan.
Defender Tianna Harris was named the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year and was one of three soccer student-athletes to earn first-team all-conference status and that trio doubled down and earned all-region honors as well.
Women's track and field had six student-athletes earn all-conference honors led by Leah Pasqualetti who claimed the pole vault title in both the indoor and outdoor season.
On the lacrosse field, the Flashes won the most games in program history and placed two on the all-conference first team. Jackie Wolford set the single-season record with 40 goals and Abby Jones became the first player to eclipse 100 career goals.
This honor continues a banner year for the Golden Flashes during the 50 years of Title IX celebration that includes the announced facility upgrades for softball and gymnastics. Since the Mid-American Conference began giving out the award in 1983, the Golden Flashes have won or finished runner-up in 20 of the 39 years it has been presented. This is the third time Kent State has gone back-to-back, having won the award in 1996 and 97 and again in 2004 and 2005.
Players Mentioned
