(Story courtesy of LeTourneau University Athletics Communication Staff)
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- LeTourneau women's golf senior Hannah Newell was named the recipient of the Elite Scholar-Athlete award for the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships, announced the NCAA on Monday night.
Newell becomes the first LeTourneau student-athlete to garner the NCAA's prestigious award in the department's history and just the fifth SCAC student-athlete to receive the honor. Newell joinsEmily Jorgens of Trinity University, who won the award for women's soccer in 2013, Texas Lutheran’s Riley Schaefer collected the award in baseball in 2018 and TLU’s DeAnna Hernandez and Chassety Raines who secured the honor in softball in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
The Elite Scholar-Athlete award recognizes the true essence of student-athletes by honoring the individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school.
Newell -- from Houston, Texas -- finished her bachelor's degree in chemistry with a 4.0 GPA. She was the SCAC Elite 19 Award winner this year and is a three-time WGCA All-American Scholar, three-time conference all-academic, and two-time CSC Academic All-District selection.
On the course, Newell is one of the top players in the program's history. She is a four-time all-conference honoree, including earning All-SCAC second team this season. She ranks second in program history in career scoring average at 81.07 and has two of the top four single-season scoring average records. She was the first player in program history to shoot under-par in a round.
Newell is the second player in program history to earn all-conference honors all four years.
For more information on the Elite Scholar-Athlete award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.org/elitescholarathlete.
LeTourneau begins play at the NCAA Division III Championships on Tuesday morning at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, Calif. Live coverage can be found here.
