CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois women’s golf head coach Renee Slone announced today the additions of Brielle Mapanao and Victoria Zheng to the Fighting Illini roster for the 2024-25 season.
“We are thrilled to welcome Brielle and Victoria to our Illinois women’s golf family,” Slone said. “Through our conversations, we learned they both have high standards for their academic and athletic success. These high quality, high character individuals are striving to continue to improve in all facets of their lives and we are extremely excited to assist them in the next step of their journey.”
“In their first two seasons, both Brielle and Victoria were two-time all-conference performers and led their respective teams to new heights. They bring a wealth of collegiate tournament experience that will serve to enhance the competitiveness of our team and we are looking forward to the immediate impact they will make.”
Brielle Mapanao | Sydney Australia | Western Carolina // St. Mark’s Catholic College
Mapanao’s Highlights: 2023-2024 All-Southern Conference Team; 2022-23 Southern Conference Freshman Team; 2022-23 All-Southern Conference Team; 2022-23 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year; 2022-23 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll; SoCon Commissioner’s Medal 2022-23; 2022-23 WGCA Scholar; Sits atop Western Carolina’s career scoring charts with a stroke average of 73.53; Twice earned the Southern Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week honor; Rewrote her own WCU single-season scoring record, usurping the 73.63 over 30 rounds as a true freshman in 2022-23 with a seasonal stroke average of 73.41 over 27 combined rounds in 2023-24.
Why Illinois: “I chose Illinois because of the great support both academically and in athletics. Illinois is a place where I can grow and develop as a student-athlete.”
Victoria Zheng | Markham, Ontario, Canada | Augusta University // Lake Mary Preparatory
Zheng’s Highlights: 2024 Southland All-Conference First Team; 2023 Southland All-Conference Second Team; Part of the 2022 and 2023 Southland Conference champion teams; Helped lead team to first NCAA National Championship appearance in 2022-23; Recorded two top-five finishes, three top-10 finishes and two top-15 finishes at Augusta; Qualified for the 2021 and 2022 U.S. Girls Junior Championships; Qualified for the 2022 U.S Women’s…
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