Women's Golf Honored in Senior Salute

April 3, 2020

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa Athletics would like to celebrate the careers and accomplishments of the women's golf team this week. Due to their season getting cut short, we will honor each student-athlete who will not get a normal senior salute at the end of the season.

Women's golf will graduate just two seniors, but the impact of Sofia Cadavid and Kiira Riihijarvi has forever shaped the program and established a foundation for continued success. This duo has led Tampa women's golf among the nation's elite teams and to the highest ranking ever at number four nationally. Additionally, they helped UT to the program's first-ever team NCAA appearance at the 2019 NCAA South Super Regional.

Kiira Riihijarvi

Riihijarvi is a four-year letterwinner from Oulu, Finland, and the most decorated player in program history. She will graduate from the University of Tampa with a degree in Marketing. Her career will go down as one of the best in the history of UT Athletics, as she put the Spartans on the national map in women's golf. She ranks as the lone All-American in program history, doing so in each of her first three seasons at Tampa. Riihijarvi was the 2019 SSC Golfer of the Year and excelled in the classroom as well, being named a WGCA Scholar All-American. She also accounts for 10 individual tournament championships, the only Spartan to be a medalist. After qualifying for the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournament, she led the Spartans to the program's first-ever team appearance at the 2019 NCAA South Super Regional. As an individual, she won the 2017 South Super Regional as a freshman, and she finished third as a sophomore, while advancing to the Division II Championships as a freshman and sophomore. Among all Spartans, she has the top seven individual rounds, including a personal-best 63 at the 2018 RMAC Fall Preview. Riihijarvi ranks first in program history in all major categories, including Par-or-Better Rounds (39), Finish Percentage (88.7%), Counting Scores (100%), Birdies (254) and Eagles (6).

Sofia Cadavid

Cadavid, a senior from Bogota, Colombia, is another four-year letterwinner and part of the best senior class in Tampa women's golf history. She will receive her degree from the University of Tampa in Entrepreneurship. As a member of the Spartan lineup, she saw improvement each of her four seasons, going from an 81.28 average as a freshman to a 75.15 showing as a senior in 2019-20. She also joined Riihijarvi as the lone players in program history to be nationally ranked, where she was No. 23 as a senior. A standout student as well, Cadavid was named a WGCA Scholar All-American in addition to being on the SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll and receiving the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award. She performed on the big stage at the 2019 NCAA South Super Regional, finishing 11th overall to lead all Spartans. Her career scoring average ranks fourth in program history, while she also ranks third in Par-or-Better Rounds (5), second in Rounds Played (83), fifth in finish percentage (52.1), second in counting scores (87.7%) and third in birdies (130).

The University of Tampa Athletic Department would like to extend congratulations to the women's golf Class of 2020 for their impressive careers, academically and athletically. As these women go on to the next chapter of their lives, we wish them all the best, and we thank them for their dedication to the program, the school, and the sport.

Please join the Tampa Spartans as we honor the seniors of each of our spring sports teams. As a result of the cancelation of all spring games and competition, typical senior-honoring events have also been canceled. We will select a different team each week for which we will honor those graduating this year.