Nebraska Wesleyan’s defending national champion golf team had some large holes to fill in its varsity lineup after the graduation of three All-Americans last year, but another strong recruiting class was ready and waiting to pick up the slack.
First-year players Phil Hranac, Nate Jaeger and E.J. Hamilton moved into the vacated spots and joined returning All-Americans Tyler Lawson and Aaron Stockton. The team hit its stride in April, winning three consecutive meets, including the Buena Vista University Invitational (Storm Lake, Iowa), the GPAC Championships (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and the prestigious Fred B. Kravetz Invitational (Rochester, N.Y.).
It was Nebraska Wesleyan’s fourth straight GPAC crown in men’s golf
and the 11th league title in 13 years under Head Coach Brett Balak. The men also made their fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Division III Championships and tied for 10th in the final team standings. NWU finished the season ranked No. 8 in the Golf World/Nike Golf Div. III Coaches Poll.
Each of the Prairie Wolves demonstrated their ability to lead the team as the five varsity players took turns as NWU’s top finisher. Hamilton claimed runner-up honors at the Nebraska Wesleyan Spring Invitational on April 5-6, followed by Jaeger, who tied for fifth at the Kansas City Intercollegiate on April 9-10.
Lawson was the medalist at Buena Vista on April 14 and also placed third individually at the Kravetz on April 28. Hranac topped the team by placing third at the GPAC Championships, and Stockton tied for seventh at the NCAA Div. III Championships. In all, the Prairie Wolves racked up 17 individual Top 10 performances, five of which came at the conference meet, where each of NWU’s golfers earned a spot on the All-GPAC Team.
As a result of his finish at Nationals, Stockton became the school’s first two-time PING First Team All-American. The senior shared Nebraska Wesleyan’s Outstanding Male Athlete for 2006-07 and was also tabbed by AD3I as Male Athlete of the Month for May.
Meanwhile, Jaeger, who tied for 52nd at the national meet, made the All-Freshman Team and earned the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation’s outstanding freshman in NCAA Div. III. He also picked up PING All-Central Region and Third Team All-America accolades. |
