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DOWAGIAC — The Dowagiac girls golf team has earned Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Academic All-State honors for the sixth consecutive season.

The Chieftains were Division 3 Academic All-State the previous five years, but moved down to Division 4 in 2021.

“It is always nice to make the Academic All-State Team,” said Dowagiac Coach Bob Turner. “It is always a team goal at the start of the year. We always talk about it at the beginning of the year. Student-athlete has the student part listed first on purpose. I have been lucky to have some really, really good parents over the years, and this year is no different. They support their kids in their athletics, but they demand good grades as well. We have a great group of girls that don’t need the pushing. They hold themselves accountable.”

Dowagiac posted a team GPA of 3.74. The five players who competed at the regional are used to make up the team GPA. This year for the Chieftains, Calley Ruff (3.91), Anna Ironside (3.44), Josie Lock (3.35), Rebecca Guernsey (4.00) and Carlee Spagnoli (4.00) made up the team.

A team must have a combined GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale to be considered for academic all-state. Players with a 4.0 GPA receive bonus points according to their grade level (i.e. sophomores receive 4.05, juniors receive 4.10 and seniors receive 4.15). Eighth grade transcripts are used for freshmen players.

Individual Academic All-State will be released at a later date by the MIGCA.