Ashley Freeman turned her head and peered at the wall behind her.
She knew what hung there, having seen it many a time when talking to Texas A&M women's golf coach Trelle McCombs in her office.
On this day, though, Freeman wanted to make sure the Academic All-America plaques got as much notice as the All-America honor.
"The All-Amercian one is when I finished in the Top 10 at NCAAs. It is one I'm proud of," Freeman said while straining to point to the other three. "But those, when it comes to academics, is what is extremely important to me because when I came to A&M I wanted the athletic experience but I really wanted the student-athlete experience. The academics have always been pushed hard here, and that means a lot to me at A&M, since it's such a good university."
The senior from Belleville, Ill., has planned on being an accountant for a long time. Those plans haven't changed, but she might make a few concessions considering the way her golf game has progressed over the last two years.
"My program is five years, so I have one more year of schoolwork," Freeman said. "With how my golf has gone, I'm not looking at turning pro but continuing to be a good amateur player. Maybe I can find a company that will work with my schedule."
Third-year A&M women's golf coach McCombs is the first to brag about how Freeman has made the most of her abilities on the course. But she marvels at her mastery in the class room, recalling only one other player of hers that has matched Freeman's work ethic on the course and in the classroom.
"If you look up the definition of student-athlete, you'll see their pictures," McCombs said. "Ashley Freeman, and the other player I coached before, they have balance, playing great and having fantastic grades. They've figured it out."
That balance was one-sided this summer when Freeman took 12 hours to help get ahead, so she could enjoy her final season of playing eligibility.
Freeman doesn't believe it will be too difficult achieving that goal, beginning with playing in front of the home crowd for the first time since she was a sophomore at A&M's "Mo"Morial Invitational this Friday through Sunday at Traditions Golf Club.
"Not having [a home tournament] last year was disappointing, but having one in the fall is exciting in general and having it as our first tournament is extremely exciting for me starting out my senior year and my last year," Freeman said.
Freeman finished last season strong individually, winning the Big 12 title in a playoff at The Rawls Course in Lubbock and then placing 13th at the NCAA West Regional.
Of her final six rounds, five were 74 or better and she concluded the round that was above 74 with a birdie in the playoff.
"What [Big 12] really taught me was that I could do it, that I can win," Freeman said. "I truly never thought about, 'yeah, I'm going to win a college event,' but that was a nice one to start with. That has made my horizons broaden a bit now and I'm very interested in doing well this senior year and winning another one."
Starting with the "Mo"Morial, Freeman is also intrigued about how far her new teammates can take the Aggies after a disappointing finish to 2008 when A&M failed to qualify for the NCAAs for only the second time in six years.
"I have a chip on my shoulder, and those two [Freeman and junior Sarah Zwartynski] are the ones that hated it as much as I did," McCombs said. "I know the new players are hungry for championships. I may have made my theme for the year, because that's all they talk about is wanting to win. And if they want to ride the coattails of the men's team, let them ride it. Let them dream. Let them believe."
The A&M men's team defeated Arkansas in late May for its first national title.
"It's inspiration for the entire team, coaching staff and players. It's a great example of what hard work can do," Freeman said. "For me personally it was an inspiration because I was here all summer. I saw when the scoreboard came in. I saw when the trophy was sitting in [men's coach J.T. [Higgins'] office. I was there for the welcome party, getting the balloons and everything."
Of the five that will represent A&M this weekend, Freeman and Zwartynski are the only two returnees.
McCombs will also have Australian Julia Boland, a grad student, among the top five and two freshmen, Texan Sarah Beth Davis and Chloe Garner from South Africa.
*
NOTES -- McCombs has changed the look of two holes at Traditions, moving the tee box up on the par-5 15th and making it a 385-yard par-4 and moving the tees back on the par-4 18th to make it a par 5. The change on No. 18 will give golfers a choice of going for the green in two over the creek or laying up to hit a wedge. ... Freeman won the Trans National Amateur in the summer of 2008. New teammate Julia Boland of Australia won the same event this past summer. ... Freeman was born in Temple, Texas, but moved to Belleville, Ill., at a very young age. She shows her roots though by using a Texas quarter as a ball marker on the green.
What: 'Mo'Morial Invitational
When: 9 a.m., Friday and Saturday; 8 a.m. Sunday
Where: Traditions Golf Club
Who: Texas, A&M, Oklahoma, Tulane, Tulsa, Southern Mississippi, Sam Houston State, Texas State, UTSA, UT-Pan American, A&M-Corpus Christi and Troy State.
A&M's fivesome: Julia Boland, Ashley Freeman, Sarah Zwartynski, Sarah Beth Davis and Chloe Garner.
Notice about comments:
Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Aggiesports.com is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends’ recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again, and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up! If you've already registered for the new comments on www.theeagle.com then just use your Eagle username to log in and start commenting.