RUSSELLVILLE — Gracen Blount kicked off the 2021 fall season with her first tournament victory of her Reddie career, earning her the Great American Conference Golfer of the Week award, the league office announced Thursday. The junior from Hot Springs, Arkansas, dazzled at the Central Region Fall Preview over the last two days, carding a 3-under 141 through the two rounds.

“Huge honor for her to be voted player of the week. For the amount of hours and preparation that Gracen has put in this past summer and the first few weeks of school, she simply earned it,” head coach Colton Cowan said. “This week she played solid [and] never allowed anything to truly get away from her. When she did get into some trouble, she found a way to minimize the damage and kept on playing golf.”

The stellar performance solidified the Central Arkansas transfer in the HSU women’s golf record books in two categories over the last 48 hours. First, she tied the third best single-day performance in program history for a par 72 course with her 2-under 70 round on day two before posting the best ever tournament score in program history with her 3-under 141 on a par 72 course through 36 holes.

Coming to Henderson State as a sophomore-transfer, Blount notched three Top-10 finishes last season, with this past tournament win being the first of her already illustrious career as Blount was named First-Team All-GAC last year. —