In three years on the Lady Rams golf team, junior business finance major Alex Schies has already made her mark, and she’s continuing to work toward more success.

In 2014-2015, her first season at Texas Wesleyan, Schies was named Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year, first-team NAIA All-American, and team MVP.

A year later, she was again named SAC Player of the Year, All-SAC, NAIA All-American, and Academic All-SAC. And once again, she was the team MVP.

Schies, 20, said that she wasn’t expecting to receive any of these awards.

“It threw me off when my name was announced as the conference player of the year my freshman year at the conference tournament,” Schies said, “and coach told me that meant I was in the running for All-American.”

Schies said that although she wasn’t expecting to receive these awards, her goals did change once she realized her success.

“After receiving All-American I realized I set a high bar for myself and that I wanted to continue to become a better golfer, so that I can receive those honors every year,” Schies said.

Schies said that so far this season hasn’t been her best but she wants to end on a high note.

“Maybe a win or two and a trip to the national tournament at the end of May in West Palm Beach, Fla.,” she said.

Sophomore exercise science major and teammate Jaci Trotter had nothing but good things to say about Schies.

“Alex has a great work ethic,” Trotter said. “She never takes a day off during the week and even goes further by getting extra work in on the weekends. At practices she is focused and determined to be better than she was the day before.”

Trotter said that while Schies is very focused and determined to get better, she enjoys what she does.

“Alex’s passion for the game drives her to be the best golfer she can be,” Trotter said. “You can’t have a work ethic like Alex without passion! I think I can speak for me and the team when I say Alex knows how to compete.”

Trotter said that although Schies talks to and makes friends with her competitors, she is able to quickly refocus before every shot she takes as if nothing else exists.

“No matter how close she is from winning or losing a tournament, she doesn’t let it affect her and she maintains her focus,” Trotter said. “Alex plays to win.”

Trotter said that not only does Schies have great work ethic but she also has a great personality.

“She is funny, supportive, and talks a lot,” Trotter said. “She isn’t afraid or too embarrassed to talk about or tell us anything no matter how outrageous the topic.”

Sophomore business marketing major and teammate Elena Sinde Romero said that Shies is an honest and hard-working competitor.

Romero said that when Schies has free time she spends it looking up not only team stats but the stats of opposing teams as well.

“That helps us stay motivated to improve our scores,” Romero said. “[Schies] loves golf. I’ve heard her say more than once that she cannot imagine her life without golf.”

Schies credits her success to her coaches, parents, teammates and friends.

“My coaches have helped me become the golfer I am today with teaching me everything that I know,” she said. “My parents are always supporting me at the tournaments, and if they aren’t there, they watch the live scoring on the internet. My teammates are always pushing each other to become better golfers. We all want nothing but the best from one another.

“Then my friends who don’t play golf, they deal with the most I feel like because they’ll ask me to do something and sometimes I’m at practice, tournaments, traveling for the tournaments, etc. They have a lot of patience with me and understand that golf doesn’t last a couple hours like most sports, they usually last several days, if not a week.”