By: Chad Beattie
Lynn University’s Jessica Bradley earned the highest honor the Sunshine State Conference can bestow following the announcement she has been named the 2013-14 SSC Female Athlete of the Year.
She becomes the third Fighting Knight to claim female athlete of the year accolades (Jannie Nicolaisen – 1999 and Aimee Murch – 2005) and sixth overall (Ross Lumsden – 2004, Nicolas Boisvert – 2007 and Dan Wright – 2009).
Additionally, teammate Ellen Chambers was named the SSC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, making this the first time in league history a school has swept all three accolades. This is the fifth time on the female side, and 10th overall, a school has claimed both athlete and scholar-athlete recognition.
A junior from Bishops Nympton, England, Bradley led the No. 1 Fighting Knights to a second consecutive NCAA Division II national championship in 2014, defeating national runner-up Barry by 29 strokes. The victory was one of an NCAA Division II record 11 during the season, including a stretch of seven straight which tied a SSC record. Lynn’s win total was also comprised of the South/Southeast Super Regional and the first SSC Championship in program history and No. 31 for the University.
Bradley’s individual season was one for the record books in which she finished as the top-ranked individual in NCAA Division II, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association National Golfer of the Year and SSC Women’s Golfer of the Year. She was also named to the WGCA All-America First Team, All-SSC First Team and WGCA All-South Region Team.
Her success was not limited to just awards as she posted a 73.27 stroke average, which set a school record and led the SSC. She finished in the top-10 of all 13 tournaments to set another record and tied a third mark by winning three tournaments.
At the national championship, Bradley finished as the individual national runner-up to teammate Louise Manalo by one stroke with a four-over par 288. In the South/Southeast Regional she claimed seventh with a six-over 222 to finish four shots back of Chambers and she earned All-SSC Championship honors with a fourth place finish at the conference tournament.
In addition to her success on the links, Bradley has also been recognized for her work in the classroom. The junior is set to be named to the SSC Spring Commissioner’s Honor Roll for a third time. She was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America At-Large First Team after earning a spot on the Academic All-District 5 At-Large First Team in 2014.
Bradley was chosen for the award in a vote conducted by the conference’s athletic directors, senior woman administrators, athletic communication directors and faculty athletic representatives from each of the nine member institutions.
Rollins leads all Female Athlete of the Year selections with seven, followed by Florida Southern (six) and Barry (four). Lynn is tied with Tampa and Nova Southeastern with three honorees while Eckerd has one pick.