IRVING — UTSA head coach Summer Batiste, Ana Gonzalez and Julie Houston all collected Conference USA postseason honors on Friday, as the league office announced its all-conference teams and individual award winners.
Batiste was voted C-USA Coach of the Year by her peers after leading the Roadrunners to four top-five finishes this season, including capturing the program's first C-USA Championship on April 18 in Fort Myers, Fla. The first-year coach guided UTSA to a 13-shot victory ahead of runner-up UTEP for the program's third overall league title and an automatic berth in the NCAA postseason. Batiste, a four-year letterwinner and member of UTSA's back-to-back conference championship teams in 2011-12, is the second head coach in school history to earn the league's top coaching award, joining two-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year Carrie Parnaby (2011-12).
Houston was one of five league players named to the first team, her third career all-conference award. The junior from Allen, Texas, captured her first and the program's fourth individual conference crown when she won the C-USA Championship last week in Florida. Houston, the 2016 C-USA Freshman of the Year, carded a 4-under-par 212 (73-70-69) to edge Gonzalez by one stroke and help lead UTSA to the team title. The InTouch Credit Union C-USA All-Academic Team selection leads the Roadrunners with a 73.68 stroke average and has finished in the top five in three of her last four tournaments.
Gonzalez was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference. The Monterrey, Mexico, native finished as the conference runner-up by one shot behind Houston after firing a 3-under 213 (70-73-70). She ranks second on the team with a 73.94 stroke average and also registered a second-place finish when she shot a program-record 9-under 205 (70-67-68) at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. Gonzalez is UTSA's third conference freshman of the year, joining Houston and 2011 Southland honoree Fabiola Arriaga.
UTSA now has earned 30 all-conference certificates in its 13-year history.
The Roadrunners will make their fourth NCAA postseason appearance when they compete as the No. 15 seed in the Austin Regional on May 7-9 at the University of Texas Golf Club.
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