May 23, 2010
Arizona State freshman golfer Jennifer Johnson has been selected as a finalist of the Honda Sports Award, which is given to the top collegiate athlete in that sport. All winners of the Honda Sports Award will become candidates for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which awarded annually to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. Johnson joins Auburn's Cydney Clanton, Oklahoma State's Caroline Hedwall and USC's Jennifer Song as this year's finalists.
Johnson, who was recently named NGCA Freshman of the Year, capped her inaugural collegiate with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship. She was named an NGCA First-Team All-American and earned First-Team Pac-10 honors. With a stroke average of 72.40, the California native ended the season ranked sixth in the Golfweek Sagarin Rankings and eighth in the Golf Stat Cup.
The Sun Devils have had four golfers win the prestigious Honda Award. The most recent recipient was Grace Park in 1999. Kellee Booth took the honor in 1998 and Wendy Ward was a two-time winner in 1994 and 1995. The Sun Devils have had a finalist for the Honda Award the past four years, including Anna Nordqvist in 2007, Azahara Munoz in 2008, Carlota Ciganda in 2009 and Johnson this past season. The Sun Devils have had a total of 18 Honda Award finalist in their history.