Illinois State graduate student Jinyoung Yun has been named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made by the MVC office on Wednesday afternoon. Yun, who is also the MVC Women’s Golfer of the Year, is joined by Morgan Jones and Lory Paradis on the All-Academic First Team.
Yun becomes only the second Redbird to receive this honor, following Ali Schrock, who earned it in 2022 and 2024. Together with Schrock, they represent a group of 37 Redbirds named to the Academic First Team.
Yun maintains a 3.89 GPA in her master’s program in psychology of sport and physical activity. She averages 72.0 strokes per round this season, potentially setting a new single-season record for Illinois State and MVC. This year she became just the third golfer in MVC history to earn Golfer of the Year honors consecutively. Yun tied for fourth at the 2025 MVC Championship and recorded nine top-10 finishes out of 11 tournaments.
Morgan Jones, recognized as the 2025 MVC Newcomer of the Year, holds a perfect GPA in accountancy. Her scoring average is second only to Yun’s within both her team and conference. In her NCAA Regional rounds, she scored at or under par twelve times and finished in six top-10 positions out of eleven events.
Lory Paradis also boasts a perfect GPA in her graduate program focused on psychology of sport and physical activity during her first season with ISU. Her performance includes averaging 74.4 strokes per round with nine rounds at or under par throughout this season.
The Redbirds are currently participating in their third NCAA Columbus Regional over four seasons.
