Illinois Wesleyan senior
Bennett Blakeman was named as a PING All-America First Team selection for men’s golf while IWU junior
Lindsey Haines was named to the second team of the Duramed National Golf Coaches Association Division III All-American women’s squad.
In helping his team to a fifth place finish, Blakeman finished in an eighth place tie at the recent NCAA Division III championships at Port St. Lucie, Fla., with a four day score of 5-over par 293 (71-78-69-75). He finished the season with a 71.9 scoring average in 23 rounds and was the medalist for the winning team in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships.
In addition to Blakeman, other first-team honorees were Rizal Amin, Mitch Fedorka and Andrew Kramer of La Verne; Matt Bova, Jake Pleczkowski and Josh Schrader of Methodist; Skidmore’s Chris DeJohn, Mack Duke of Huntingdon, UT-Tyler’s Brian Jennings, Tain Lee of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Oglethorpe’s Olafur Loftsson and Jeff Nieman of Ohio Wesleyan.
Illinois Wesleyan senior
Mike DeRuntz was a second team PING All-American. He averaged 73.5 in 23 rounds, tied for 15th at the NCAA national tournament and placed second at the CCIW tournament.
IWU senior
Chris Green was chosen as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars for Division III, announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America. To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically and compete in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his team’s competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke average under 79.0 in Division III and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university
Also, Titan head coach Jim Ott was selected as the Central Region “Coach of the Year.”
Matt Mahanic of Huntingdon was honored as the Division III Eaton Golf Pride National “Coach of the Year” as he led Huntingdon to seven wins this season in 10 regular season tournaments. The Hawks finished runner-up in two events and third in the other. Huntingdon – ranked first most of the season in the Golf World/NIKE Golf Coaches Poll – placed sixth at the NCAA championships. In addition to Ott and Mahanic – who was coach of the year for the South region – David Bakyta of Skidmore (Northeast), Allegheny’s Jeff Groff (Mid-Atlantic), Jon Whithaus of Ohio Wesleyan (Great Lakes) and Joe Skovron of La Verne were named Eaton Golf Pride Regional Coaches of the Year.
Illinois Wesleyan junior Lindsey Haines was named to the second team of the Duramed National Golf Coaches Association Division III All-American squads and her teammate, senior
Maddie Murphy, was the winner of the NGCA Division III Kim Moore Spirit Award.
Haines led Illinois Wesleyan with an 80.4 average in 21 rounds this year and was the medalist in the CCIW championships wihile finishing in a 20th place tie at the NCAA Division III national meet.
Murphy had an average of 83.8 in 21 rounds. The Kim Moore Award recognizes and honors a student-athlete who exemplifies a great spirit toward the game of golf, a positive attitude on and off the golf course, a role model for her team and mental toughness in facing challenges. The Award is named for Moore, who played golf for the University of Indianapolis from 1999-03 and persevered through many physical challenges. Her positive outlook and dedication toward the game was only out done by her sense of humor and passion for the game.
Haines and sophomore
Erica Woodall were the Titans represented on the NGCA all-Central Region squad. Woodall averaged 82.5 in 21 rounds and tied Haines with the season-low round of 74.
The PING NGCA Division III Player of the Year was Jessica Urban of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and the NGCA Division III Freshman of the Year was Emily Bachert of Centre College. The NGCA winners were recognized at the NGCA Division III Awards Banquet held in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Haines was joined by
Alessandra Bollero,
Erin Bradley and senior
Nicole Spear as NGCA All-Scholar award winners. To earn that distinction, a player must maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA and compete in at least 12 competitive rounds.
Founded in 1983, the NGCA is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches, formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. The NGCA represents nearly 500 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.