April 27, 2018
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State's Sara Kjellker (Hollviken, Sweden) and Mila Chaves (Asunción, Paraguay) each landed a spot on the all-Mountain West Women's Golf team, as announced Friday by the league office. Kjellker was a first-team choice, while Chaves received second-team recognition in a vote of the conference's nine head coaches.
With their honors, the Aztecs have garnered multiple all-MW selections in eight consecutive seasons.
Kjellker has made a tremendous impact in her freshman campaign, leading the team with a 75.28 scoring average to go with four top 10 finishes. The native Swede has recorded five rounds at or below par and ranks fourth in the league in head-to-head individual metrics.
Kjellker was the Scarlet and Black's top finisher in five events this season, highlighted by a third-place performance in the stroke-play phase of the SDSU March Mayhem at The Farms Golf Club. She also collected a pair of MW Player of the Week awards following a seventh-place effort at the Bruin Wave Invitational in late February and an eighth-place showing earlier this month at the Bruzzy Challenge.
Last fall, Kjellker tied for sixth at the highly competitive Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, carding a season-best 2-over-par 218 in a field where only three golfers broke par for the tournament.
Chaves, meanwhile, is coming off a medal-winning performance at the MW Championship on April 18 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where she fired a 3-under 213 to give the Aztecs their second consecutive individual champion at the conference tournament.
A native of Paraguay, Chaves tops the squad with eight rounds at or below par, highlighted by a season-best 69 on the second day of the MW Championship, and ranks second on the team behind Kjellker with a 75.68 stroke average. She currently occupies the seventh spot individually in head-to-head league competition.
In addition to her MW tournament victory, Chaves was the team's top finisher at the aptly named Windy City Collegiate Classic last October and was the squad's No. 2 placer in three other events.
San Diego State, which has advanced to postseason play for the fifth consecutive year, will compete in the NCAA San Francisco Regional, May 7-9, at TPC Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif.
2017-18 Mountain West Women's Golf Honors
First Team All-MW
Sara Kjellker, San Diego State
Katrina Prendergast, Colorado State
Ingrid Gutierrez, New Mexico
Abegail Arevalo, San José State
Polly Mack, UNLV
Second Team All-MW
Mila Chaves, San Diego State
Ellen Secor, Colorado State
Mimi Ho, Fresno State
Darian Zachek, New Mexico
Nastasia Kossacky, UNLV
Elizabeth Prior, UNLV
Player of the Year: Polly Mack, Fr., UNLV
Freshman of the Year: Polly Mack, UNLV
Coach of the Year: Amy Bush-Herzer, UNLV