Sept. 24, 2012

Schneider Prepared For Senior Season

Written by: Sarah Harden, Media Relations Student Intern

Ericka Schneider and the Ole Miss women’s golf team tees off today in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail, Colo. During yesterday’s practice round, Schneider recorded her first career hole in one. Live stats can be found at golfstat.com.

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OXFORD, Miss. – Senior Bradenton, Fla. native Ericka Schneider hopes to finish her college career with another impressive season with the women’s golf team.

Schneider, who won two national championships with Daytona State, was also a two-time NJCAA All-American. During her junior campaign at Ole Miss, she earned two top-20 finishes. Over the summer, Schneider won the Florida State Amateur in front of friends and family on her 21^st birthday.

“That was really special,” she said. “It was really nice to have my family there. I shot a 68 the first day, and I had never opened up with a round in the 60s. It was kind of relaxing because I was really focused and it was a big learning experience. The girls I was playing with were playing really well, and it taught me how to fight for it. It was just icing on the cake that it was my birthday and that I won.”

Schneider has excelled both on and off the golf course in the past year. In addition to being named to the UMAA Honor Roll, she was also selected for the SEC Academic Honor Roll. She said although balancing golf and school is not easy, time management has helped her perform remarkably well on the golf course and in the classroom.       

“If you plan out your day and know what’s a priority, sometimes you can have a social life, but sometimes you have to know when not to,” she said. “It’s just being able to say no to going out to the movies because you have a test the next day or really being able to buckle down and study.

“It’s hard when you get to the golf course because if you have a test the next day you’re thinking about studying. But, when you’re at the golf course, you have to be there to play golf. Then when you’re done, you can work on school. If you can do that and kind of compartmentalize what you’re doing, it makes it a lot easier.”

Schneider said she chose to come to Ole Miss after visiting Oxford for the first time, in part because of its proximity to Memphis, where she has family, and because of Oxford’s small-town atmosphere.

“Everything I looked for in a school they had,” she said. “It’s in the SEC, it’s Division I golf and you can’t get any better than that. The competition is unbelievable. The facilities are phenomenal. I loved the hospitality when I came to Oxford. Everybody was so polite and so happy to see you. People held the doors open for you. I couldn’t find anything that I didn’t like about it.”

Schneider credits her parents, avid golfers, for being her biggest supporters.

“When I was younger, I played ice hockey, and the only thing I wanted to do was ride around in the golf cart,” she said. “When I got to high school and they didn’t have a hockey team, I said, ‘Why not play golf?’ You whack something with a stick in ice hockey, and you whack something with a stick in golf.

“My parents never pushed me to do it. They let me do it on my own, and no matter what I shoot, no matter where the ball goes, and no matter what I place in a tournament, they’re always there to support me. They’re always there to motivate me to become a better version of me and a better player and person. They’ve just been such a big positive aspect on my golf career.”

Schneider said her teammates and coaches are also one of the biggest influences on her performance.

“The team chemistry is unlike anything you’re going to see on any other team anywhere,” she said. “We are a family, and it’s so awesome to go out and want to beat the girls that you’re playing with, but at the end of the day be able to go home and watch a movie or go out to dinner with them, and the family that is Ole Miss Athletics is so supportive.”