Past Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year

ARIZONA's Gile Bite Starkute was named the 2023-24 Pac-12 Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced on Tuesday. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

The fifth-year student from Vilnius, Lithuania completed her undergraduate degree in business administration, finance with a 3.945 grade-point average last spring, and currently holds a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a master's in marketing.

Starkute is enjoying the finest season of her collegiate career and one of the best seasons in Arizona history in 2023-24 - her 71.2 scoring average entering the Pac-12 Championships leads the Wildcats and is on pace for third-best in the storied program's history.

She captured her first collegiate title this season with a victory at the Match in the Desert in January headlining a trio of top-10 and five top-20 finishes. Her round of 8-under-par 64 in the Match in the Desert matched the lowest single round in program history.

For her career, Starkute is Arizona's all-time leader in competitive rounds played with 139.5 across 49 tournaments while trending toward a top-15 career scoring average (73.63). Her Arizona highlights also include helping the Wildcats to the 2023 NCAA Raleigh Regional title, the program's first regional win in 13 years, and providing the clinching birdie in a playoff in the 2021 NCAA Championship quarterfinal match against No. 1 Stanford.

Off the course, Starkute is a four-time WGCA Scholar All-American (2020-23), a three-time member of the Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll (2021-23), and was a Collegiate Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection last spring.

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.

ALSO NOMINATED: Ashley Menne, Arizona State; Hailey Schalk, Colorado; Ching-Tzu Chen, Oregon; Chayse Gomez, Oregon State; Sadie Englemann, Stanford; Christine Wang, USC; Camille Boyd, Washington.

Pac-12 Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year
2024 - Gile Bite Starkute, Arizona
2023 - Brooke Seay, Stanford
2022 - Alexandra Forsterling, Arizona State
2021 - Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State
2020 - No award
2019 - Petra Salko, Oregon
2018 - Roberta Liti, Arizona State
2017 - Wanasa Zhou, Arizona
2016 - Lauren Kim, Stanford
2015 - Noemi Jimenez, Arizona State
2014 - Sophia Popov, USC
2013 - Sally Watson, Stanford
2012 - Giulia Molinaro, Arizona State
2011 - Pia Halbig, California
2010 - Juliana Murcia, Arizona State
2009 - Azahara Munoz, Arizona State
2008 - Allison Walshe, Arizona