Eastern Michigan Athletics
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Janae Leovao Earns WGCA All-America Honor
6/2/2026 4:00:00 PM | Women's Golf
Senior helped lead the program to unprecedented heights in 2025-26
FRISCO, Texas (EMUEagles.com) – For the first time in program history, an Eastern Michigan University women's golf has earned All-America honors as Janae Leovao was named Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America Honorable Mention, the association announced, June 2. Leovao was instrumental in helping the Eagles not only qualify for the NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history but guided the team to the NCAA Championships and NCAA Match Play where the 27th-ranked team tied for third by reaching the semifinals.
In her lone season with the Eagles, Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State) finished ranked No. 43 in the final Scoreboard/Clippd national rankings after her play helped the team on a magical postseason run. The senior transfer, who averaged a program-record 71.8 strokes per round, appeared in 12 tournaments for the Eagles and captured wins in the first two tournaments of the season, including The Southern (Sept. 8-9) and the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 15-16) to mark the first time in program history the Eagles opened a season with back-to-back individual and team champions. Throughout the season, Leovao posted strong finishes, including top 20 performances in all five spring events.
When the schedule turned to the postseason, Leovao was instrumental in pushing the Eagles for a deep run. She opened by tying for ninth place at the Mid-American Conference Championships (April 26-28) to help Eastern earn its first berth into the NCAA Regionals. The Eagles headed to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional as the fifth-seeded team and emerged as the fourth-place finisher with Leovao tying for seventh. Eastern then took part in the NCAA Championships for the first time with Leovao tying for 23rd at the national tournament to help the Eagles to a fifth-place finish and a spot in NCAA Match Play where No. 5 Eastern upset No. 4 University of Texas, 3-1, before falling to No. 1 Stanford University in the semifinal. In match play, Leovao was drawn to play the top two players in the collegiate game as she handed the 2026 champion, Farah O'Keefe (Texas) a 5&4 loss before being 1-down to No. 2 Paula Marin Sampedro (Stanford) through 16 holes when the match was halted.
Overall, Leovao was named to the All-MAC First Team and was a three-time MAC Golfer of the Week. For the year, she held an adjusted average of 70.8 strokes while holding a record of 809-143-27 in all competitions.
Leovao was one of seven players not on a 'Power 4' team to earn All-America honors from the WGCA with five of those players named to the honorable mention list. Veronika Kedronova of Kent State University and Eunseo Choi of Pepperdine University were both selected to the second team while the honorable mention group included Leovao, Pinky Chaisilprungruang of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Kylee Choi and Jeneath Wong of Pepperdine, and Thanana Kotchasanmanee of Princeton University.
The three lists included representation from 28 schools with 12 seeing multiple honorees, including national champion Stanford and national runner-up University of Southern California, both of whom had five All-Americans. The University of Florida, Pepperdine, Texas, and Wake Forest University each had three All-Americans while two honors were earned by University of Arkansas, Auburn University, Iowa State University, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, and Texas A&M University.
To be considered for All-America status, players' credentials were reviewed by the WGCA Awards Committee members. Each reviewed the tournament profiles of all candidates and made comparisons between players based upon national rank, head-to-head results, adjusted scoring average, tournament wins, win-loss record, and spring versus fall results. Each player under consideration for the honor must have competed a minimum of 15 rounds during the competitive year, including NCAA Regional Championships, when applicable.
About the Women's Golf Coaches Association
The Women's Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women's collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 750 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
2025-26 WGCA Division I All-Americans
First Team
Marie Jose Marin • Arkansas
Rianne Malixi • Duke
Avery Weed • Mississippi State
Kiara Romero • Oregon
Megha Ganne • Stanford
Paula Marin Sampedro • Stanford
Meja Ortengren • Stanford
Andrea Revuelta • Stanford
Farah O'Keefe • Texas
Vanessa Borovillos • Texas A&M
Catherine Park • USC
Jasmine Koo • USC
Second Team
Paula Francisco • Florida
Sophia Fullbrook • Florida State
Veronika Kedronova • Kent State
Marie Madsen • NC State
Marta Silchenko • Oklahoma State
Eunseo Choi • Pepperdine
Kelly Xu • Stanford
Lauren Kim • Texas
Cindy Hsu • Texas
Bailey Shoemaker • USC
Kylie Chong • USC
Macy Pate • Wake Forest
Honorable Mention
Charlotte Beck • Arizona
Patience Rhodes • Arizona State
Reagan Zibilski • Arkansas
Anna Davis • Auburn
Balma Davalos • Auburn
Pinky Chaisilprungruang • Charlotte
Janae Leovao • Eastern Michigan
Megan Propek • Florida
Siuue Wu • Florida
Nichakorn Pinprayoon • Iowa State
Pimkwan Chookaew • Iowa State
Megan Streicher • North Carolina
Kajasalotta Svarvar • Ole Miss
Kylee Choi • Pepperdine
Jeneath Wong • Pepperdine
Thanana Kotchasanmanee • Princeton
Variana Heck • South Carolina
Eila Galitsky • South Carolina
Kyra Van Kan • Tennessee
Madison Messimer • Tennessee
Cayatana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio • Texas A&M
Pimpisa Sisutham • UCF
Elise Lee • USC
Jaclyn LaHa • Virginia
Chloe Kovelesky • Wake Forest
Morgan Ketchum • Wake Forest
In her lone season with the Eagles, Leovao (Oceanside, Calif./El Camino/Long Beach State) finished ranked No. 43 in the final Scoreboard/Clippd national rankings after her play helped the team on a magical postseason run. The senior transfer, who averaged a program-record 71.8 strokes per round, appeared in 12 tournaments for the Eagles and captured wins in the first two tournaments of the season, including The Southern (Sept. 8-9) and the Leadership & Golf Invitational (Sept. 15-16) to mark the first time in program history the Eagles opened a season with back-to-back individual and team champions. Throughout the season, Leovao posted strong finishes, including top 20 performances in all five spring events.
When the schedule turned to the postseason, Leovao was instrumental in pushing the Eagles for a deep run. She opened by tying for ninth place at the Mid-American Conference Championships (April 26-28) to help Eastern earn its first berth into the NCAA Regionals. The Eagles headed to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional as the fifth-seeded team and emerged as the fourth-place finisher with Leovao tying for seventh. Eastern then took part in the NCAA Championships for the first time with Leovao tying for 23rd at the national tournament to help the Eagles to a fifth-place finish and a spot in NCAA Match Play where No. 5 Eastern upset No. 4 University of Texas, 3-1, before falling to No. 1 Stanford University in the semifinal. In match play, Leovao was drawn to play the top two players in the collegiate game as she handed the 2026 champion, Farah O'Keefe (Texas) a 5&4 loss before being 1-down to No. 2 Paula Marin Sampedro (Stanford) through 16 holes when the match was halted.
Overall, Leovao was named to the All-MAC First Team and was a three-time MAC Golfer of the Week. For the year, she held an adjusted average of 70.8 strokes while holding a record of 809-143-27 in all competitions.
Leovao was one of seven players not on a 'Power 4' team to earn All-America honors from the WGCA with five of those players named to the honorable mention list. Veronika Kedronova of Kent State University and Eunseo Choi of Pepperdine University were both selected to the second team while the honorable mention group included Leovao, Pinky Chaisilprungruang of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Kylee Choi and Jeneath Wong of Pepperdine, and Thanana Kotchasanmanee of Princeton University.
The three lists included representation from 28 schools with 12 seeing multiple honorees, including national champion Stanford and national runner-up University of Southern California, both of whom had five All-Americans. The University of Florida, Pepperdine, Texas, and Wake Forest University each had three All-Americans while two honors were earned by University of Arkansas, Auburn University, Iowa State University, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, and Texas A&M University.
To be considered for All-America status, players' credentials were reviewed by the WGCA Awards Committee members. Each reviewed the tournament profiles of all candidates and made comparisons between players based upon national rank, head-to-head results, adjusted scoring average, tournament wins, win-loss record, and spring versus fall results. Each player under consideration for the honor must have competed a minimum of 15 rounds during the competitive year, including NCAA Regional Championships, when applicable.
About the Women's Golf Coaches Association
The Women's Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women's collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 750 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
2025-26 WGCA Division I All-Americans
First Team
Marie Jose Marin • Arkansas
Rianne Malixi • Duke
Avery Weed • Mississippi State
Kiara Romero • Oregon
Megha Ganne • Stanford
Paula Marin Sampedro • Stanford
Meja Ortengren • Stanford
Andrea Revuelta • Stanford
Farah O'Keefe • Texas
Vanessa Borovillos • Texas A&M
Catherine Park • USC
Jasmine Koo • USC
Second Team
Paula Francisco • Florida
Sophia Fullbrook • Florida State
Veronika Kedronova • Kent State
Marie Madsen • NC State
Marta Silchenko • Oklahoma State
Eunseo Choi • Pepperdine
Kelly Xu • Stanford
Lauren Kim • Texas
Cindy Hsu • Texas
Bailey Shoemaker • USC
Kylie Chong • USC
Macy Pate • Wake Forest
Honorable Mention
Charlotte Beck • Arizona
Patience Rhodes • Arizona State
Reagan Zibilski • Arkansas
Anna Davis • Auburn
Balma Davalos • Auburn
Pinky Chaisilprungruang • Charlotte
Janae Leovao • Eastern Michigan
Megan Propek • Florida
Siuue Wu • Florida
Nichakorn Pinprayoon • Iowa State
Pimkwan Chookaew • Iowa State
Megan Streicher • North Carolina
Kajasalotta Svarvar • Ole Miss
Kylee Choi • Pepperdine
Jeneath Wong • Pepperdine
Thanana Kotchasanmanee • Princeton
Variana Heck • South Carolina
Eila Galitsky • South Carolina
Kyra Van Kan • Tennessee
Madison Messimer • Tennessee
Cayatana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio • Texas A&M
Pimpisa Sisutham • UCF
Elise Lee • USC
Jaclyn LaHa • Virginia
Chloe Kovelesky • Wake Forest
Morgan Ketchum • Wake Forest
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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