ATLANTA – A four-time All-American for Oglethorpe women's golf, Sarah Hsu was selected as the 2022-23 Southern Athletic Association Woman of the Year, it was announced on Thursday by Commissioner Jay Gardiner. 

The highest honor awarded by the SAA, the Man/Woman of the Year voting is conducted among the conference's eight athletic directors.

Hsu was the 2023 SAA golfer of the year and earned a spot on the WGCA All-America first team, capping a stellar career on the links for the Stormy Petrels. A native of Buford, Georgia, Hsu ranked as high as No. 2 and finished the year No. 8 in the nation in adjusting scoring average. She won SAA golfer of the week three times, and she won two tournaments on the season: the Savannah Invitational and Chick-fil-A Invitational. Hsu also took runner-up at two tournaments: the Birdie Spritz Panthers Classic and the SAA Championship.

Hsu is the only player in Oglethorpe history to be named both All-Region and All-America all four years of her collegiate career.

"Fitting that the most decorated female athlete in the history of Oglethorpe athletics has been honored with the ultimate award, the SAA Woman of the Year," commented head coach Jim Owen. "What a wrap to the most historic and iconic golf career of all time. Sarah wrote and rewrote the Stormy Petrel women's record book year after year, and this unequaled – and may never be broken – set of records deserves this ultimate honor. Next stop, the Oglethorpe Hall of Fame. Nonstop."

Her nominators added, "Hsu's athletic success has been matched and even surpassed by her academic success, her commitment to community service, and her character. This says much about someone who is a four-time all-American and one of the top golfers in NCAA Division III this season."

Hsu graduated with honors from Oglethorpe with a degree in biopsychology. She earned Oglethorpe's Presidential Scholarship, is a member of the prestigious Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) honor society, has been on the Dean's List seven consecutive semesters, and has been named WGCA All-America Scholar all three times she was eligible.

Always one to give back to her community, Hsu is heavily involved with First Tee of East Lake, working with young golfers as a mentor for both on and off-the-field skills. She also served as an instructor at the Country Club of Roswell Girls Junior Golf Clinics and the S.A.I. Golf Academy.

While working toward her degree, Hsu interned with Suwanee Family Dentistry, Georgia Orthodontics and Children's Dentistry, and Perimeter Pediatrics. Hsu plans to pursue dentistry school and will attend the Dental College of Georgia starting in July.

Hsu is the first SAA Woman of the Year from Oglethorpe. Former Stormy Petrel men's golfer Anthony Maccaglia won the 2015 SAA Man of the Year award. 

The Man and Woman of the Year awards, selected by a committee comprised of SAA Athletic Directors, are given to the senior class male and female nominees who best exemplify traits of leadership, character, and athletic and academic success. The criteria for SAA Man and Woman of the Year nominees included that they must be a senior with no eligibility remaining, they must have been named First Team All-SAA in the sport in which they participated during their athletic careers, and they must have qualified for the SAA Academic Honor Roll during their tenure as a student-athlete. Additionally, SAA Man and Woman of the Year candidates are expected to be involved in their local community in some meaningful way.