Headshot courtesy of Central Athletics

Central College women’s golfer Emily Opsal is a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Established in 1991, the award recognizes graduating female athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their college careers.

Opsal, a business management major, graduated with a 3.97 cumulative grade point average. She is a three-time American Rivers all-conference finisher, placing seventh in the league tournament last fall after finishing fourth in 2018 and ninth in 2016. She is a three-time winner of the team’s Maurine Timmer Most Valuable Player Award and was named to the WGCA All-America Scholar team and the American Rivers Academic All-Conference team in each of her first three seasons. A two-time NCAA Division III Championships participant, Opsal was Central’s team leader last fall with an 80.9 stroke average. Her spring campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eight previous Central nominees have advanced to represent the state or the conference at the national level, including last year’s pick, Dutch softball pitcher Mariah Fritz.