Crystal Wang knew she wanted to experience something different during her college recruitment process. After growing up in California, Wang left the West Coast for the Midwest, choosing to continue her athletic and academic careers at Illinois.
Though the adjustments to a new environment far from her family and unfamiliar weather were initially difficult, Wang quickly adapted, and she credits her close-knit women’s golf team for making the transition much more manageable.
“Before coming here, the only thing I was really worried about was my family not being here and also the weather,” Wang said. “I didn’t really know how to handle the cold, but once I got here, the team is really close with each other, so it kind of makes me feel not homesick. The weather, I got adjusted pretty quickly, but I think those are the two main things I was worried about.”
Wang burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018, registering three top-five finishes during the fall campaign. In the spring, she continued this same success, and her 72.95 stroke average is now the eighth-lowest single-season mark in program history.
After tying for eighth place and securing a joint-second-place team finish at the Big Ten Championships in her first spring season, Wang was earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors and led the program to its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance in 2019. The team finished tied for ninth in its tournament debut, a feat she is especially proud of.
“I think what I’m most proud of is my freshman year when we made it to nationals,” Wang said. “I think that was just a big moment when I was a freshman to make it.”
Wang says she was not expecting such immediate collegiate success, as she was mainly looking to simply help the team in any way possible. She was “pretty nervous” heading into her first tournament at Illinois, but she quickly realized the college events were similar to those she competed in at the junior level, aside from the increased levels of talent and competition.
With her first season in the books and her level of success rather high, Wang headed into the 2019-2020 with a new personal standard.
“I just have that first season as my standard,” Wang said. “After that, I just hope to build on top of that.”
Her sophomore year was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she returned to her freshman-year form in…
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