MANHATTAN, Kan. – Leading Kansas State to its first ever NCAA Championship appearance in just his second season at the helm, head coach Stew Burke has been named to the watch list for the Jackie Steinmann National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) announced Tuesday.
 
In its sixth season of existence, the Jackie Steinmann National Coach of the Year award is presented annually to the top coach in Division I, II, III and NAIA women’s golf. Wake Forest head coach Kim Lewellen and Stanford head coach Anne Walker have each won the award twice, while Mississippi’s Kory Henkes was honored following the 2020-21 season.
 
Burke is one of 24 coaches named to this year’s watch list. He is one of four coaches from the Big 12 on the list, joining Arizona State’s Missy Farr-Kaye, Kansas’ Lindsay Kuhle and TCU’s Angie Larkin.
 
In addition to guiding the Wildcats to their first appearance in the NCAA Championship, Burke presided over K-State’s first NCAA Regional Champion in Carla Bernat, first Big 12 Champion in Sophie Bert, the first time the Wildcats had two golfers named to the All-Big 12 team in the same season (Bernat and Bert), first consecutive top-five finishes in the Big 12 Championship (third in 2024, fifth in 2025), first time the Wildcats had two top-10 finishers in a conference championship (Bernat and Bert), the program’s first ANNIKA Award finalist (Bernat) and Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion (Bernat).
 
Under the direction of Burke, this year’s Wildcats currently hold the program record for lowest team scoring average at 287.40, just ahead of last year’s record of 290.25. The 2024-25 Wildcats also rank first in school history in top-three finishes (7), while they are tied for first in wins (2) and top-five finishes (9). Additionally, nine of the 12 lowest team rounds in school history have come this year – including a record of 269 at the Schooner Fall Classic – in addition to five of the lowest 54-hole scores in school history – including a record-tying score of 840 at the Westbrook Invitational.
 
Kansas State’s 118 victories this season are the most since the 2002-03 team had 125 wins, while its 78.0% winning percentage is the best since at least the 2000-01 campaign.
 
On an individual note, Burke has guided Bernat to the top scoring average mark in school history for both a single season (69.91) and career (70.38), three victories this season to tie the program record and five wins in her career to rank second.
 
Kansas State opens play at the 2025 NCAA Championship on Friday with the first of three stroke-play rounds. Following the third round on Sunday, the field will be cut from 30 to 15 teams for Monday’s final round of stroke play where the eight teams that advance to match play in addition to the individual 72-hole national champion will be determined. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be held on Tuesday, while the championship match will be conducted on Wednesday.
 
Monday’s final round of stroke play and all matches will be shown on GOLF Channel.

 

BATON ROUGE – The LSU gymnastics program added a new member to their incoming freshman class as Molly Brinkman officially signed with the Tigers on Wednesday. 

Brinkman joins the class of 2025 that is already filled with three five-star recruits in Nina Ballou, Haley Mustari and Elyse Wenner. 

“I chose LSU because it has been the environment and culture I have always looked for. When I visited Louisiana for a meet as a young girl, I knew there was something special about this place,” Brinkman said.

“Talking to the coaches and hearing about the community made me feel like home. I feel like God led me to this incredible program and I am so grateful to be a part of it! Geaux Tigers!”

A native of Chandler, Arizona, Brinkman is a level 10 gymnast out of Gold Medal Gymnastics, where she is one of top 30 gymnasts in the country.

She is a five-time state champion and three-time national qualifier who is rated four-stars by College Gym News.

Brinkman won gold on vault, bars and floor in the 2025 Arizona State Champion and most recently was named floor champion at regionals this past April.

She owns career highs of 9.925 on floor, 9.95 on vault, 9.75 on bars, 9.65 on beam and 38.925 in the all-around.

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