April 25, 2007

The University of Dayton is pleased to announce that senior golfer Melissa Gaus has been named its NCAA Woman of the Year. She was chosen for her outstanding achievements in not only athletics, but academics, service and leadership as well.

Gaus is a four-year member of the UD women's golf team and this year's team captain. She led the team in stroke average in her junior season, and was third this season (85.8). Her best tournament finish was a third-place effort at the IPFW Fall Classic, where she shot a career-low round of 74.

Over the past four years, Gaus has been a leader among Flyer student-athletes in demonstrating to her peers the importance of balancing golf, school work, and service. Gaus has made the Dean's List every semester of her college career. Other noteworthy achievements include the Coaches Award for the 2005-2006 season, being a four-time winner of the conference academic award, and honorable mention in the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup. She also represented her team in UD's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Gaus has kept herself heavily involved in campus and community life outside of athletics as well. She is a member of Delta Sigma Pi where she is the current Senior Vice President, Beta Alpha Psi, and Beta Gamma Sigma. She also volunteered for Christmas on Campus all four years of her undergraduate career and participated in a Spring Breakout to Biloxi, Mississippi to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief in her junior year.

The senior from Noblesville, Indiana was asked to submit a 200-word personal statement on her experience as a student-athlete as part of her nomination. In it, she said "Through hard work and dedication on and off the course I have plenty to be proud of and stories to share."

As UD's NCAA Woman of the Year, Gaus is automatically nominated to become the Atlantic 10 Conference's NCAA Woman of the Year. The winner from each NCAA conference will then be submitted to the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee where they will determine the top three women in each division. From that group of semifinalists, they select the overall winner, the NCAA Woman of the Year. Last year's top recipient was Anne Bersagel, a track and field standout from Wake Forest University.

Gaus will graduate in May with a double major in Accounting and Entrepreneurship.