Illinois Wesleyan senior Karson Taphorn (Morton, Ill., Morton HS) earned all-conference honors as she tied for seventh in the 2014 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships. Her career lows have been 75 (second round of the 2014 Illinois College Invitational, 2014 Illinois Wesleyan Spring Fling).
A nursing major with a Spanish minor at Illinois Wesleyan, she is the daughter of Matt and Kelly Taphorn - her father played basketball at Division I Illinois State University and holds ISU record for career 3-point field goal accuracy and her mother was a Redbird cheerleader.
Why you chose Illinois Wesleyan: Strong reputation of the school of nursing, strong golf program, and close to home!
IWU class you’re most qualified to teach: “Intro to Golf”, the P.E. class
The hardest challenge about being a Division III student-athlete is: Finding time to get everything done! The biggest challenge freshman year was learning time management. It’s tough with practice schedules, traveling to tournaments, attending class, and participating in clinicals for nursing school. However, it’s all worth it!
Worst grade in a class you ever got – what and when? Not my worst grade, but I remember crying in the fourth grade when I received my first B. It was in Reading and Comprehension and I was so upset!
I’m deathly afraid of: Scary movies! And a dirty house.
Worst habit: Biting my nails
Most expensive traffic ticket: Three speeding tickets combined
Language I’d like to learn: German
The longest I could survive without my cell phone: Depends. On vacation, I could survive a week without it. But on a day to day basis, I rely on it for communication with family and friends
One word your mother or father would use to describe you: Stubborn or driven.
Favorite sports figure: Tiger Woods
My greatest moment in sports was: The best is yet to come!
The best player I ever faced was: Katie Klosterman.
Worst dresser on my team: J-Kole. Kidding- she’s the best dressed on the team with all her fancy golf outfits.
Thing that’s been in my fridge the longest: Salad dressing or Tabasco.
Person I’m dying to have dinner with: Danny Thomas- founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Favorite food: ICE CREAM
Vegetable I won’t eat: Radishes. My mom loves them
Pepsi or Coke? On a rare occasion, diet Pepsi. I don’t drink much soda
Favorite TV show: “Scandal”
Favorite musical group: I need to broaden my musical horizons. I don’t have a favorite group, but enjoy listening to music by Jack Johnson.
Favorite movie: "Marley & Me". I’m a sucker for dogs.
If a movie were made of my life, I would like the following person to play me: Jennifer Lawrence
If my life were on TV as a reality show, I’d call it: “Keeping Up with K-Tap”
The person in history I would most like to meet is: Florence Nightingale
My dream job would be: Neonatal nurse practitioner at OSF St. Francis Medial Center
Place I’d most like to live: Somewhere in Texas or Charleston, S.C.
Two things that are tops on my “bucket list”: To go skydiving and to travel to Italy
My possession that would fetch the most on eBay: My collection of nursing textbooks
Who is the luckiest person in the world? Kathy Niepagen! She wins random contests all the time.
What I miss most about being in the third grade: Recess
