Crown Leads Men's Golf All-Conference Awards List
Video Interview with Coach of the Year Mike Gmetro, Crown College
Video Interview with Player of the Year, Reed Sorensen, Crown College
ST. PAUL – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced its all-conference award recipients following Saturday’s final round of the 2014 UMAC Men’s Golf Championship at Alexandria Golf Club in Alexandria, Minn. The top eight individual scores, including ties, from the three-day event were awarded the honor.
Crown College junior Reed Sorensen shot the best three-day score to earn individual medalist honors and top the all-conference list. The honor was Sorensen’s third as he also received all-conference recognition in 2012 and 2013. His 54-hole score of 229 was one stroke better than Bethany Lutheran senior Jon Pederson who finished with a score of 230 in second place in the individual standings. The accolade marked the fourth consecutive year that Pederson has received the award.
The Storm had four players finish in the top eight, the most of any team, with Tom Messner, Juan Marcos Cueva and Parker Lippold joining Sorenson on the list of award recipients. Bethany Lutheran had three student-athletes earn recognition as Kiley Miller and Josh Hansen joined Pederson in receiving all-conference recognition. It was second consecutive honor for Hansen who also finished in the top eight in 2013. Representing other institutions on the list was Northland College’s Evan Lunda and the University of Minnesota Morris’ John Geiger.
Crown Head Coach Mike Gmetro was selected by his peers of the UMAC Coach of the Year following his team’s 2014 UMAC Men’s Golf Championship title. The Storm shot a three-day team score of 938 finishing 14 strokes ahead of second place Bethany Lutheran and earning the league’s automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina in May.
The University of Northwestern won the team sportsmanship award for the third consecutive year, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list. The following individuals were selected.
Kiley Miller, Bethany Lutheran College
Parker Lippold, Crown College
Craig Wilke, Martin Luther College
Chris Karow, North Central University
Nathan Sharp, Northland College
Mike Campbell, University of Minnesota Morris
Nicholas Demuth, University of Northwestern
2014 UMAC Men's Golf All-Conference Team
Reed Sorensen, Crown College
Jon Pederson, Bethany Lutheran College
Thomas Messner, Crown College
Kiley Miller, Bethany Lutheran College
Juan Marcos Cueva, Crown College
Evan Lunda, Northland College
Parker Lippold, Crown College
John Geiger, University of Minnesota Morris
Josh Hansen, Bethany Lutheran College
Coach of the Year: Mike Gmetro, Crown College
Team Sportsmanship Award:
University of Northwestern