MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Just two days removed from winning the individual title at the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional, Kansas State senior women’s golfer Carla Bernat was named one of 10 finalists for the 2024-25 ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel, the Haskins Foundation announced Friday.

Bernat, the 2024-25 Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Year, is the first ever K-State finalist for the ANNIKA Award, which is annually given to the top Division I women’s golfer and voted on by players, coaches and members of the college golf media.

Created in 2014, the ANNIKA Award is named for Annika Sorenstam and was created in partnership with the Haskins Foundation to acknowledge the top female golfer and to match the Haskins Award presented by Stifel, which acknowledges the top Division I men’s golfer.

A native of Castellon, Spain, Bernat holds a 69.91 scoring average this season, which is currently the top mark in program history and nearly one stroke per round better than the school record of 70.90 she produced a year ago. Bernat has tallied three victories this season to tie the single-season school record, while she has five victories in her K-State career to rank second. She has not finished outside of the top 20 in any of her 12 starts this season, while she has eight top-five finishes and 10 top-10 showings.

Bernat’s record scoring average this season is thanks in part to a career-high 17 rounds in the 60s, including a pair to close out the regional championship. She carded a three-round total of 12-under par 204 in Lexington to tie the school’s 54-hole record. She also ranks in the top 20 in K-State history 10 times for lowest 18-hole score and 12 times for lowest 54-hole score.

Bernat has led Kansas State to its first appearance in the NCAA Championship as the Wildcats tied for second in the NCAA Lexington Regional. Thanks in part to Bernat, K-State currently holds the school record for lowest scoring average (287.40) and top-three finishes (7), while it is tied for first in wins (2) and top-five finishes (9). Bernat is also part of a 2024-25 squad that holds the five lowest rounds in school history and five of the lowest seven 54-hole scores in program history.

Kansas State begins play at the 2025 NCAA Championship next Friday, May 16, for the first of three rounds of stroke play prior to a 15-team cut. The final round of stroke play is set for Monday, May 19, where the top eight teams will advance to match play and a 72-hole individual champion will be crowned. The final round of stroke play and all rounds of match play on Tuesday, May 20, and Wednesday, May 21, will be shown on GOLF Channel.

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Following one of the best regular seasons in program history, the Kansas State women’s golf team earned a postseason bid for the first time since 2017 and the sixth time overall as the Wildcats were selected as the No. 5 seed in the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional, the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Selection Committee announced Wednesday.

“It just means so much,” head coach Stew Burke said. “They work so hard and they want it, and I think that’s the difference. We talked Day 1, when we got here, you guys can’t want this any less than we do. I think we want more than we do.”

K-State will compete at Keene Trace Golf Club, May 5-7, against a field of 12 teams, including No. 1 seed and ACC Champion Florida State, No. 2 seed USC, No. 3 seed TCU and No. 4 seed Vanderbilt.

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