Reddie golfer GAC’s 2025 Player of the Year

FORT SMITH, Arkansas — The Henderson State University golf programs cleaned up on Sunday night, April 20, at the 2025 GAC Awards banquet as Felisa Sajulga was named Player of the Year, Cloe Poizac was named Freshman of the Year, and head coach Matt Ward was named Coach of the Year for both the men and the women.

Sajulga, a senior from College Station, Texas became the third woman in program history to be named GAC Player of the Year, joining Gracen Blount (2022, 2023) and Allie Bianchi (2024). She won three individual tournament titles this year, including both the Fall and Spring Central Region Previews, and boasts a stroke average of 73.10. She was a unanimous First Team All-GAC selection.

Poizac, a freshman from Marseille, France, burst onto the scene for the Reddies this season to earn Freshman of the Year and Honorable Mention All-GAC honors. She posted three Top-10 finishes in her first year at Henderson State with a stroke average of 76.57.

The first-year head coach of the Reddies, Matt Ward, was recognized as the Men’s and Women’s GAC Coach of the Year. Ward has both teams in position to make their respective NCAA Regionals and will be looking for his first conference titles at Henderson State this week.

Lily Nelson, who had five Top-5 finishes individually this year and the lowest stroke average on the women’s team (72.86), joined Sajulga and Poizac on the All-GAC teams as a unanimous First Team selection. Nelson had the lowest round of the season for any Reddie with a 6-under 65 at the NSU Women’s Classic in September.

On the men’s side, four Reddies earned All-GAC recognition. Freshman Maxime Lam was the lone Henderson State golfer on the GAC First Team after a terrific inaugural campaign in Arkadelphia. The Paris, France native had four Top-10 finishes individually and a team-best stroke average of 73.

Jacob Knowlton, of Cabot, Arkansas, and Philipp Pakosch, of Herten, Germany, both earned Second Team All-GAC honors. Knowlton turned in the low round of the season for the Reddie men with a 5-under 66 at the NSU Classic, while Pakosch played in seven events during his first season with HSU.

Ethan Wilkins was named to the GAC Honorable Mention Team. It is the second All-GAC honor of his career alongside his First Team All-GAC selection last season.

Wilkins, Nelson, Pakosch and Cooper Williams represented Henderson State on the 2025 GAC Academic Honor Roll for golf.

Henderson State, who has won the last four GAC Championships on the women’s side and the last three GAC titles on the men’s, will be searching for the program’s 14th and 15th GAC golf championships this week at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The first round of play begins Tuesday morning.