The Kalamazoo College women's golf team placed three student-athletes on the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) 2025-26 All-American Scholar Team. Ellie Britt, Jacey Merkle and Jillian Smith each earned the honor.
This award recognizes outstanding academic achievement by a student-athlete with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher who competed in at least 50% of her team's matches.
A sophomore from Lake Orion, Mich. (Lake Orion), Britt played in all 10 tournaments for the Hornets this season. She tied for the lowest average round score for a season in program history (79.6), taking medalist honors with a season-low 74 in the Steven Tyler Memorial, earned co-medalist honors at the Hornet Fall Invite, and was named Second Team All-MIAA along with a CSC Academic All-District award.
Merkle, a sophomore from Saugatuck, Mich. (Saugatuck), also played in all 10 tournaments for Kalamazoo in 2025-26. She tied for the lowest average round score for a season in program history (79.6) and became the first player to earn medalist honors three times in a season: at the MIAA Jamboree #1 with a season-low 74, co-medalist at the Hornet Fall Invite, and at the Earlham Spring Invitational. She picked up a Second Team All-MIAA nod plus CSC Academic All-District recognition this season.
Finally, a junior from Howell, Mich. (Howell), Smith played in seven tournaments for the Hornets this season. She also averaged a 79.6 round score, though she did not meet the minimum 75% of team tournaments competed in to qualify for single-season records due to studying abroad in Spring '26. She was named co-medalist at the MIAA Jamboree #2 with a season-low 73, earning MIAA Women's Golfer of the Week on October 6.
This season, the Hornets won four events: the Kyle Campbell Invitational, MIAA Jamboree #1, Hornet Fall Invite, and Earlham Spring Invitational. The team had each of its three lowest rounds in program history, led by an all-time best of 309 on day two of the Kyle Campbell Invitational (Sept. 6, 2025) to secure the win.