Rachelle Tacha Season 1997-98

Honors & Awards

• Big Eight Conference Individual Champion (1996)
• Tied for 27th at NCAA Championships (1996)
• Three-Time NCAA Regional Competitor (1995, 1996, 1997)
• All-Big 12 Conference (1997)
• All-Big Eight Conference (1996)
• Big Eight Conference Co-Newcomer of the Year (1995)
• Big Eight Golfer of the Month (April, 1996)
• Three Career Tournament Titles
• Seven Career Top-Five Tournament Finishes
• Three-Time NGCA Scholastic All-American (1996, 1997, 1998)
• First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (1998)
• Two-Time Academic All-Big Eight (1995, 1996)

Senior (1997-98)
One of the top female golfers in Nebraska history, Rachelle Tacha closed her senior season with a 77.96 stroke average. She posted six top-25 tournament finishes as a senior, including a season-best tie for fourth with a career-best 221 to help the Huskers to a team title at the Colorado Invitational. She added a tie for ninth over two rounds at the Utah-Dixie Classic, which included a career-best 70 in the second round.

She opened the season with a tie for 13th at the Chip-N Club Invitational, before adding a tie for 22nd at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial. After tying for fourth in Colorado, she led the Huskers with a tie for 16th (236) at the Big 12 Fall Preview. She added a tie for 19th to open the spring season at the Bruin Pioneer Electronics Classic, before her strong showing at Utah. She closed her Nebraska career with a tie for 28th (238) at the Big 12 Championships.

Off the course, Tacha also stood out. She was a three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American and earned her third academic all-conference award as a senior. It was her first Big 12 academic award.

Junior (1996-97)
Tacha became the first Husker to earn All-Big 12 honors with her performance during her junior campaign. After winning the last Big Eight individual title as a sophomore in 1996, Tacha finished in a tie for 16th at the inaugural Big 12 Championships. She helped the Huskers to a third-place team finish.

Earlier in the season, Tacha helped the Huskers to a team title at the Big 12 Fall Preview by finishing in a tie for fourth place (225), which included a career-best-matching 71 in the opening round.

Tacha captured the third individual title of her career to open the season at the Lady Lion Invitational. She added a tie for fourth at the Chip-N Club Invitational, before her third top-five showing of the fall at the Big 12 Preview. She captured a second individual title with a 230 at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational, Oct. 14-15. She closed the fall by tying for 16th to lead the Huskers at the Roadrunner Invite, Oct. 28-29.

She finished the fall as NU's top finisher at four of six events. However, she struggled to open the spring campaign before rebounding with a tie for 16th at the Big 12 Championships. She managed a three-round total of 232 at the NCAA West Regional.

Sophomore (1995-96)
Tacha produced one of the best seasons in school history by capturing the 1996 Big Eight Conference individual title before posting a 27th-place finish after qualifying as an individual for the NCAA Championships. She led the Big Eight Tournament from wire-to-wire, closing with a then-personal best 73 in the final round. Her career-best lasted just one round, as she opened the 1996 NCAA West Regional with a career-best 71. She closed the NCAA West Regional with a 233 to match fellow Husker Heidi (Wall) Stark. Both golfers advanced to the NCAA Championships, where Tacha closed with a 316 (83-77-78-78).

Tacha and Stark became just the second and third Huskers to ever compete at the NCAA Championships, following in the footsteps of 1990 NCAA participant Joanne Brooks (314).

Tacha was the first Husker female to win a Big Eight golf title, and also became the last player to ever win a Big Eight golf crown. She finished her sophomore season with a 79.74 stroke average.

Freshman (1994-95)
Tacha earned Big Eight Co-Newcomer-of-the-Year honors by posting a 79.79 stroke average on the season. She was the first Husker ever to win conference newcomer honors. She posted the first top-10 finish of her career at the 1994 Husker Golf Classic by taking second (232) with rounds of 76-80-78, while tying for ninth at the Texas A&M Memorial. In her first collegiate tournament, Tacha tied for 12th, before notching her best score of the season with a 227 (75-74-78) at the 1995 NCAA West Regional. Her 227 trailed only Heidi Wall's 226 among the Huskers. Tacha posted six top-20 tournament finishes on the season.

High School/Amateur
A highly sought-after recruit, Tacha was named the Midwest Golfer of the Year following her senior season at Manhattan High School. She won the Kansas Junior Championship and placed in the top four three straight years and the Kansas High School Girls Championships. She also competed in softball and basketball at Manhattan High School.

Personal
The daughter of Ron and Karolyn Tacha, Rachelle was born July 19, 1976. A marketing major at Nebraska, Tacha was a three-time NGCA Scholastic All-American in 1996, 1997 and 1998. She was also an academic All-Big 12 performer in 1998, and a two-time academic All-Big Eight honoree in 1995 and 1996. Rachelle's younger sister, KoKo, was a 2006 CoSIDA Academic All-American as an outfielder for the Nebraska softball team (2003-06).

Tacha’s Career Statistics

Year	Rounds	Strokes	Avg.	Low 18	Low 54
1994-95	34	2,713	79.79	73	227
1995-96	38	3,030	79.74	71	227
1996-97	35	2,762	78.91	71	225
1997-98	28	2,183	77.96	72	221
Totals	135	10,688	79.17	71	221