DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Former Nova Southeastern women’s golfer Sandra Changkija has received membership into the Ladies Professional Golf Association after finishing in seventh place in the final stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

"It feels like my hard work, the perseverance and the time that I put in at practice has paid off," said Changkija. "A lot of that was spent out at Grande Oaks (the Sharks' training facility) in addition to my time on the Futures Tour."

Changkija finished the tournament shooting an even par (73-72-72-73-70---360) with her best round coming on the fifth and final day of the tournament. Changkija was consistent throughout the five-round tournament as she never finished more than one stroke over par in any round.

The former Shark described the weekend's tournament as her toughest test since leaving NSU. "The other players were a lot better (compared to the other stages)," stated Changkija. "It was just better golf, that's how I'd describe it. The conditions were very tough, it was very windy. Pretty much every day there was gusts, I think up to 15-20 miles (per hour) almost each day."

She gave a lot of credit to her coaches at NSU, former head coach Kevin Marsh and current interim head coach Amanda Brown, for her post-collegiate success. "They both taught me about my swing and my tendencies," said Changkija. "Even after I left in May, both of them were still able to look at me and my swing videos to help me figure out what was wrong with my swing."

Changkija finished her collegiate career as the most decorated student-athlete in NSU athletics history. She was a four-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year while she guided the Sharks to three NCAA National Championships. In her 2010 junior season, Changkija won the individual NCAA National Championship at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.

Changkija caps off what has been a benchmark year for NSU athletics. She is the third former student-athlete to reach the pinnacle of her sport in 2011. The first two were former baseball players, J.D. Martinez and Mike Fiers.

Former NCAA National Champion Taylor Collins also competed in the final stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament but did not make the cut to reach the fifth round. Collins got off to a rough start, shooting 10 over par (82) in the first round. Despite playing solid golf over the next three rounds, Collins finished her weekend in the fourth round, ending up 18 over par (82-73-74-77---306).

NSUSharks.com will continue to cover both former NCAA National Champions as they further their post collegiate careers. To follow Changkija on the LPGA tour, become a fan of her Facebook Fan Page HERE.

For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by clicking here.