FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is pleased to announce its Men's Golf All-Conference honorees and major award winners in the wake of last week's conference championship at Ponkapoag Golf Course in Canton, Mass.
Rhode Island College junior Jonathan Cooper (pictured, right) has been named the GNAC Player of the Year after shooting a 70-72—142 last weekend to earn medalist honors at the conference tournament, while University of Massachusetts Dartmouth freshman Tyler Hemingway, who finished fourth with a 72-74—146, receives GNAC Rookie of the Year for being the top-rookie finisher at the event.
RIC head coach Greg Gammell (pictured, left), currently in his ninth year at the helm of the Anchormen, has been named the 2014 GNAC Coach of the Year, as voted upon by his peers. Gammell led his group to its fourth straight GNAC crown at Ponkapoag, as the honor also marks the fourth in as many years for the head coach.
Cooper and Gammell, who spoke about their experience at the GNAC Tournament on Thursday on the Fox Toyota-Scion Inside RIC Athletics Show, will now prep for the NCAA Division III Tournament, which tees off May 12 next spring.
RIC senior Patrick Ford, who finished second overall among the 40 competitors last weekend, receives GNAC First Team honors alongside his teammate Cooper. Joining the duo on First Team is Hemingway and UMass Dartmouth sophomore teammate Mike Byron, as well as University of Southern Maine sophomore Spencer Plante. Byron and Plante finished third and fifth, respectively, at the two-day tournament.
To view the complete list of All-Conference and honorees and All-Sportsmanship Team selections, please see below.
Johnson & Wales University, which finished runner-up to RIC for the second straight year, received the annual GNAC Institutional Sportsmanship Award, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement.
2014 GNAC Men's Golf All-Conference Teams
First Team
Jonathan Cooper, Rhode Island Col. (Jr., Berkley, Mass.)
Patrick Ford, Rhode Island Col. (Sr., Halifax, Mass.)
Mike Byron, UMass Dartmouth (So., Bourne, Mass.)
Tyler Hemingway, UMass Dartmouth (Fr., Fairhaven, Mass.)
Spencer Plante, Southern Maine (So., Springvale, Maine)
Second Team
Tim Benedetto, Suffolk (Sr., Peabody, Mass.)
Jon Nelson, Johnson & Wales (So., Pembroke, Mass.)
Tom Murray, Southern Maine (So., Bangor, Maine)
Juan Fernandez, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Panama City, Panama)
Brandon Kwok, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Natick, Mass.)
Patrick Paulson, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Merrimack, N.H.)
Player of the Year – Jonathan Cooper, Rhode Island Col.
Rookie of the Year – Tyler Hemingway, UMass Dartmouth
Coach of the Year – Greg Gammell, Rhode Island Col.
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Johnson & Wales
GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team
Colin Cordero, Emmanuel (Jr., Braintree, Mass.)
Jon Nelson, Johnson & Wales (So., Pembroke, Mass.)
Pete Danko, UMass Dartmouth (Sr., Norton, Mass.)
Jonathan Cooper, Rhode Island Col. (Jr., Berkley, Mass.)
Ryan Berard, Saint Joseph's (ME) (Jr., Millville, Mass.)
John Gagliano, Southern Maine (Sr., Windham, Maine)
Jack Davis, Suffolk (Sr., Milton, Mass.)
David Rixham, Worcester State (Sr., Northbridge, Mass.)
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