YSU Women’s Golf Announces Seven Signees for Fall 2024
11/13/2023 1:12:00 PM | Women's Golf
Seven women's golf student-athletes have each signed a National Letter of Intent to continue their academic and golf futures at Youngstown State University in the fall of 2024, Head Coach Nate Miklos announced on Monday.
The signing class includes Maureen Burns (Cincinnati, Ohio), Valentina Peña Anaya (Mexico City, Mexico), Sofia Perez Escarcena (Estepona, Spain), Sophia Rivera (Boardman, Ohio), Bella Saur (Grove City, Ohio), Maddi Shoults (Circleville, Ohio) and Matilyn Zines (Hanoverton, Ohio).
Miklos on Signing Class: "I am very excited to announce our 2024 recruiting class. Valentina, Sofia and Bella will all be competing for us next season. These three have all shown an ability to play at a very high level and we expect them to come in and have an immediate impact. Matilyn, Maureen and Sophia Rivera will all be redshirting and will have another year to train and develop within our program. I am very optimistic about the impact these three can have and what they mean to the future of our program. Maddi Shoults was a late addition to our recruiting class as a transfer from Ottawa University in Arizona. With such a large group of freshmen coming in, the addition of Maddi provides another veteran player. She's played at a very high level at Ottawa, and we're excited to have her join our Penguin family."
Information on each of the student-athletes who committed during the signing period is below:
Maureen Burns | Cincinnati, Ohio | Mount Notre Dame High School
Highlights: Four-time team MVP and Girls Greater Catholic League All-Star at Mount Notre Dame High School… Qualified for the Ohio Division I State Tournament as a senior in 2023… Finished tied for 10th at the state tournament with a two-round score of 149 (79-70) to earn second-team all-state honors… Four-time district qualifier… Finished tied for fourth at the district tournament as a senior with a round of 74… Named a First-Team GGCL All-Star as a senior in 2023 and as a junior in 2022… Named a Second-Team GGCL All-Star as sophomore in 2021… Honored as an Enquirer Sports Fall Athlete of the Week… Named a Cincinnati Enquirer Honorable Mention Fall All-Star in 2020 and 2021.
Valentina Peña Anaya | Mexico City, Mexico | Kipling Esmeralda
Highlights: Earned a first-place Mexican national ranking in 2020-21… Earned a first-place finish on the AGVM Golf Tour in 2020-21… Earned a fourth-place finish in Mexico's CONADE National Games… Qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Puerto Rico in 2022… Qualified for the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo.... Finished tied for eighth with a three-round score of 227 (78-74-75) in the Girls 15-18 Division at the 16th Annual FCG National Championship at Redhawk Golf Club in Temecula, Calif…. Competed at the 2021 IMG Academy Junior World Championships… Participated in the 2021 FCG Callaway World Championship.
Sofia Perez Escarcena | Estepona, Spain | I.E.S. Mediterráneo
Highlights: Claimed medalist honors at La Copa Maestranza 2023… Earned a top-16 finish at Campeonato de España Sub-18 with a four-round total of 309 (82-76-78-73)… Finished in the top 33 at Campeonato de España Absoluto Femenino… Picked up a top-17 finish at the Campeonato Internacional Absoluto de Andalucia in Spain during the summer of 2023 with a three-round score of 230 (79-72-79)… Earned a second-place finish at Campeonato de Andalucia PitchAndPutt event… Finished sixth at the Campeonato de Sevilla 2023 with rounds of 77 and 78… Placed seventh at the Trofeo Barbesula with rounds of 78, 77 and 79.
Sophia Rivera | Boardman, Ohio | Boardman High School
Highlights: Three-time First-Team All-AAC honoree at Boardman High School… Three-time District qualifier… Named AAC Player of the Year as a senior in 2023… Earned medalist honors at the All-American Conference Tournament in 2023 with a round of 77… Claimed medalist honors at the Howland Invitational in 2023… Three-time finalist for the Greatest Golfer of the Valley (2021, 2022, 2023)… Was also a member of the softball team at Boardman.
Bella Saur | Grove City, Ohio | Grove City High School
Highlights: Four-time First-Team All-OCC-Ohio selection at Grove City High School… Named the OCC-Ohio Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2021 and as a junior in 2022… Named second-team all-district as a senior in 2023… Fired a school-record round of 67 and posted a conference scoring average of 74 during her senior season… Earned third-team all-district honors as a sophomore and junior… Collected honorable mention all-district honors as a freshman in 2020… Helped lead Grove City to four straight undefeated seasons and four consecutive OCC-Ohio titles from 2020-23… Helped lead the Greyhounds to their first sectional title in school history… Recipient of the 2023 Grove City High School Heisman Award… Named an All-OCC-Ohio Scholar Athlete and a Central District Scholar Athlete as a senior… Member of National Honor Society.
Maddi Shoults | Circleville, Ohio | Westfall High School | Ottawa University Arizona
Highlights: Earned NAIA Second-Team All-America honors as one of the best freshmen in the nation at Ottawa University Arizona in 2022-23... Named GSAC Co-Freshman of the Year and earned all-conference honors after finishing in the top 20 in every event including the NAIA Championship where she tied for 19th…Led her team in scoring average and ranked 15th nationally by Golfstat with a 75.18 strokes-per-round average… Posted seven top-five finishes on the season including at the GSAC Championship where she placed third…Recorded two wins in her debut collegiate season and became just the third Spirit golfer to claim two individual tournament titles in a campaign… Posted six rounds of par or better and just one round over 79… Holds OUAZ single-season records for scoring average (75.18), wins (2), top-five finishes (7), birdies (69) and rounds in the 70's (27)… Averaged 73.3 strokes-per-round over 10 rounds this past fall… Finished her fall season with a two-round score of 70-68 (138) to win the Firestorm Fall Invitational at six under par… Four-time first-team all-district pick and four-time sectional medalist at Westfall High School… Earned second-team all-state honors while claiming medalist honors at districts as both a sophomore and junior… Selected as the Ohio Division II Southeast District Player of the Year as both a junior and senior… Set new school records with a nine-hole score of 30 (-6) and an 18-hole score of 67 (-5).
Matilyn Zines | Hanoverton, Ohio | United High School
Highlights: Three-time All-Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference selection and two-time First-Team All-Northeast Ohio honoree at United High School… Two-time sectional champion and two-time district co-champion… Qualified for the Ohio Division II State Tournament as a senior in 2023… Finished tied for eighth at the state tournament with a two-round score of 156 (79-77) to earn second-team all-state honors… Earned Division II First-Team All-Northeast Ohio laurels in 2023… Owns a career-low nine hole score of 31 and a career-low 18-hole score of 72… Set new school records for low nine-hole score and low 18-hole score… Named Academic All-Ohio for her combined performance on the course and in the classroom… Was also a standout softball player for the Golden Eagles… Named Second-Team All-EOAC as a sophomore in 2022… Maintains a 4.00 GPA in the classroom.
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