RAPID CITY, SD (Aug. 6, 2025) – South Dakota Mines Athletics continues its strong academic momentum, as both the men's and women's golf teams have been recognized nationally for their classroom performance.
The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) has named the Hardrocker golf teams among the 33 NCAA Division II programs to receive the 2024–25 Platform Golf Team Academic Award.
This year, a record-setting 292 programs across six collegiate divisions earned the distinction.
This most recent honor adds to a list of academic recognition for Hardrocker golf which includes two women athletes, Lora Ortega, a recent biomedical engineering graduate from Alamosa, Calif., and Kenzie Schroeder, named as 2024-2025 Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars, and men's golfer Tyler White, a junior majoring in metallurgical engineering from Morrison, Colo., earning a spot on the Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar list for 2025-25.
""Academic excellence is a core value of our program, and I'm incredibly proud of both our men's and women's teams for earning national recognition," said Luke Wheeler, director of golf. "Our student-athletes continue to set a high standard in the classroom while competing at a high level on the course."
A full list of the 2024–25 Platform Golf Team Academic Awards can be found here.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Michelle Pawelski
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Michelle.pawelski@sdsmt.edu
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About South Dakota Mines
Founded in 1885, South Dakota Mines is one of the nation's leading engineering, science and technology universities. South Dakota Mines offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and a best-in-class education at an affordable price. The university enrolls 2,579 students with an average class size of 24. The South Dakota Mines placement rate for graduates is 97 percent, with an average starting salary of $77,067. For these reasons, South Dakota Mines is ranked among the best engineering schools in the country for return on investment. Find us online at www.sdsmt.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Snapchat.
About South Dakota Mines Athletics
South Dakota Mines is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The RMAC is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.
