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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Abby Newton Sets Academic Example for Student-Athletes
5/13/2016 | Women's Golf
By Connor Hennessey, Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations
OXFORD, Miss. - The University of Mississippi will hand diplomas to some 4,000 graduates on Saturday May 14 across the various colleges of the university. Included in the ceremonies is Ole Miss women's golf senior Abby Newton (Katy, Texas).
Newton, who had a solid four-year career for the Red and Blue will graduate with cum laude honors from the School of Engineering Saturday, sporting a grade point average north of 3.5.
If you are familiar with any engineering program, but especially Ole Miss' you know how tough that is. Forget the fact that Newton has been a student-athlete for four years as well and is earning an engineering degree that typically takes five years to complete in four years.
On May 3, Newton was honored with Scholar Athlete of the Year honors from the Southeastern Conference becoming the first Ole Miss player to receive the honor.
The recognition has been added to a long list of academic honors for the Texas native who has also been named to the Dean's and Chancellor's honor rolls in Oxford as well as being a three-time Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar. Additionally, she has been named to the SEC Academic Honor roll for multiple semesters and was inducted into the 2015-16 Who's Who of American Colleges and Universities.
"We are extremely proud of her," head coach Kory Henkes said. "To be given such an honor is a huge accomplishment and we are all very proud of her. It takes a lot of time to be a student-athlete and I've seen how much work she has put in. It's unbelievable watching what she's been able to do on both the golf course and the classroom. She's been a great leader in both areas."
In the classroom, Newton could be considered one of the finest student-athletes to come through the women's golf program. Though, the balance of school and golf hasn't always been easy.
"I've never been able to focus 100% on my sport because of what I chose to major in," Newton said. "We would have semester long assignments that never gave me that opportunity."
For Newton, one of the selling points for Ole Miss during recruiting was the ability to do whatever she wanted here in her academics.
"I was told I could do whatever I wanted," Newton said. "A lot of schools weren't offering that. Because golf is so demanding, a lot of coaches would say no to something like engineering."
Henkes reiterated the sentiment that her athletes are given some freedom when it comes to their academics.
"These kids are students before they're athletes," Henkes added. "Our goal is allow them to walk away from here with a college degree that sets them up to contribute to society the best they can if their sport doesn't work out. We want them to get a degree and be able to be successful beyond their sport."
The biggest hurdle for any student-athlete is staying up to date on schoolwork with such a high number of absences due to travel requirements. Most professors are accommodating, but that doesn't always simplify anything for the athlete.
"You miss so much school being an athlete, so you kind of have to create days that don't exist in order to focus on school work," said Newton. "For me, we get back from tournaments and don't have much time to regroup because both engineering and golf are so time consuming"
On the course, Newton became one of just 12 Rebels to earn medalist honors in their collegiate career by winning the Memphis FedEx Intercollegiate in the fall of 2014. In the fall of 2015 she tied the school record for single lowest round with her 7-under par 65 at the CSU Fall Invitational. In four years she posted a 76.23 scoring average in nearly 120 competitive rounds for the Rebels. Additionally she helped lead the Ole Miss to the NCAA regionals in 2013, and appeared again as an individual in 2014.
Newton is excited about her future, and knows she has a few paths she can take between professional golf and the many career opportunities that come with an engineering degree from Ole Miss.
She said being a student at Ole Miss has taught her so many life lessons and provided opportunities and experiences that she thinks she wouldn't have otherwise had. For that, she's pleased with her career here both in the classroom and on the course.
"I'm happy with the things I did here," Newton said. "We set team records and I set some individually as well. You can't undo the accomplishments our group made in four years."
After Ole Miss, Abby will head back to the Houston area with her parents Bob and Jennifer where she has plans to make a run towards the professional golf circuit.
For all Ole Miss women's golf news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWGolf and Facebook at Ole Miss Women's Golf
Players Mentioned
