Rugola, Smithco Named CSC Academic All-District
5/23/2023 12:05:00 PM | Women's Golf, Academics
Youngstown State women's golf student-athletes Danae Rugola and Madie Smithco have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for 2022-23, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The 2022-23 Academic All-District® At-Large Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes at-large honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
The Penguin tandem is now included on the At-Large Academic All-America ballot, which includes the sports of women's beach volleyball, women's bowling, women's crew/rowing, men's and women's fencing, women's field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's rifle, men's and women's skiing, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo and men's wrestling. Academic All-America® honorees will be announced June 22.
Rugola and Smithco are the first student-athletes in program history to earn academic all-district honors.
Rugola was named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for the second straight season in 2022-23 to become the 11th player in program history to earn all-academic honors multiple times. The Uniontown, Pa., native is the first Penguin since Megan Creager (2018-19) to become a two-time member of the league's all-academic team. Rugola maintains a 4.00 GPA as an education major at Youngstown State. She has previously been named a WGCA All-American Scholar in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Rugola was named Second-Team All-Horizon League for the second straight season in 2022-23. The senior competed in all 12 tournaments 24 rounds this past season with a 77.0 strokes-per-round average and a low round of 71. The Uniontown, Pa., native earned five top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes during the 2022-23 season.
Smithco was named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for the first time in her career in 2022-23. The Cranberry Township, Pa., native maintains a 4.00 GPA as an exercise science major at YSU. She was previously named a WGCA All-American Scholar in 2021-22.
Smithco competed in all 12 tournaments and 24 rounds this past season while averaging a career-best 77.1 strokes per round. She earned four top-10 finishes while firing a career-low round of 71 on two occasions. The junior earned medalist honors for the first time in her career at NKU's The Julie with a two-round score of 142 (71-71) on March 28. For her performance, Smithco was named Horizon League Golfer of the Week on March 30.
For the latest news and updates on the YSU women's golf program, follow @YSUWomensGolf on Twitter.
