EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women’s golf team cleaned up on Big Ten Conference end-of-season awards on Monday as Kiara Romero was named the Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year, Derek Radley was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and four players received all-Big Ten honors.
Romero becomes the first player in program history to be named the conference player of the year, while Radley joins Renee Baumgartner (1997) as Oregon head coaches to be selected as the conference coach of the year. Romero also receives the Mary Fossum Award as the player in the conference with the lowest adjusted scoring average.
Romero was an all-Big Ten first-team selection along with fellow sophomore Karen Tsuru and freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, giving the Ducks a league-high three first-team honorees. Freshman Tong An was also voted to the all-Big Ten second team as Oregon tied with Northwestern for the most first- or second-team selections in the conference.
Tsuru was also honored as Oregon’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
The Ducks dominated the Big Ten awards after winning the Big Ten Tournament in their first year in the league, capturing the second team conference title in program history, and Romero became the third Duck ever to win an individual conference championship.
Currently ranked No. 5 in the nation, Oregon earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional in Arizona (May 5-7). The Ducks will need a top-five finish in the 12-team field in order to punch their ticket to the 2025 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in Carlsbad, Calif. (May 16-21).
Kiara Romero – Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year | All-Big Ten First Team | Mary Fossum Award
» Currently No. 3 in both the individual national rankings and the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
» Third Duck ever to win an individual conference title, joining Hsin-Yu Lu (2022) and Caroline Inglis (2015).
» Owns a stellar 70.16 scoring average, on pace to break her own UO single-season record of 70.84 set in 2023-24.
» One tournament win and four runner-up finishes so far in 2024-25.
» Has placed in the top 20 in all nine tournaments while earning seven top-10 finishes.
» Par-or-better in 20 of 25 rounds with a team-high 13 sub-70 performances.
» Has shot par-or-better in 14 of 15 rounds this spring, including 11 sub-70 rounds.
» Leads the Ducks with 102 birdies, just 16 shy of her program-record 118 set in 2023-24.
Derek Radley – Big Ten Coach of the Year
» Second Oregon head coach ever to be named a conference coach of the year, joining Renee Baumgartner (1997).
» Led the Ducks to their second conference team championship in the last four seasons (2022 Pac-12).
» Has guided Oregon to a top-five finish in all 10 tournaments this season, including two wins and four runner-up showings.
» Oregon is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation and has been as high as No. 3 this season.
» So far in 2024-25, Oregon has carded six of the eight lowest team rounds in program history and four of the nine lowest 54-hole scores.
Karen Tsuru – All-Big Ten First Team | Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
» Currently No. 29 in the individual national rankings and No. 43 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
» Owns a 72,32 scoring average through eight tournaments (22 rounds) in 2024-25.
» Earned first career individual win at the Juli Inkster Invitational, firing a 13-under 203 to tie for the third-lowest 54-hole total in UO history.
» Four top-10 finishes and five top-20 showings on the season.
» Nine sub-70 rounds in 2024-25, including a run of eight straight this spring.
» Eight of 12 par-or-better rounds on the season have come this spring.
Suvichaya Vinijchaitham – All-Big Ten First Team
» Currently No. 25 in the individual national rankings and No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
» First collegiate win at the Alice & John Wallace Classic, firing the second-lowest 54-hole total in UO history with a 12-under 201.
» 71.46 scoring average through 10 tournaments (28 rounds).
» Has placed in the top 20 in nine of 10 tournaments with six top-10 finishes.
» Second on the team with 99 total birdies.
» Has shot par-or-better in 15 of 28 rounds with eight sub-70 performances.
Tong An – All-Big Ten Second Team
» Ten par-or-better performances through first 28 collegiate rounds, including three sub-70 rounds.
» Fired a stellar 6-under 66 in the final round of the Big Ten Championships to help Oregon win the team title.
» Tied for fifth individually at the Big Ten Championships for third top-10 finish of the season.
» Six top-10 finishes through 10 tournaments.
