PSAC Men's Golfer of the Year Drew Deimel of Gannon (left) and PSAC Freshman of the Year Connor Lefever of West Chester (right).
Gannon’s Drew Deimel Voted PSAC Men’s Golfer of the Year
West Chester’s Lefever, Hammond named top freshman, coach, respectively
2011 All-PSAC Men's Golf Team (pdf)
Lock Haven, Pa. – Gannon senior Drew Deimel, the top individual finisher from the PSAC at the NCAA Championships, has been named the PSAC Men’s Golfer of the Year and he along with PSAC individual champion Sean Sweithelm of IUP highlight the 2011 All-PSAC men’s golf teams. West Chester took the remaining two awards as Connor Lefever was voted the PSAC Freshman of the Year and Harry Hammond took the Coach of the Year honor.
This year marks the first season that the All-PSAC men’s golf teams were voted on by head coaches at the conclusion of the spring season. In previous years, the all-conference teams were based solely on individual finish at the fall PSAC championship. Beginning this year, the all-conference teams will be voted on at the conclusion of the season so that results of the entire year, including NCAA postseason play, can be considered in the awards.
Deimel and Sweithelm are joined on the first team by IUP’s Brad Boyle as well as the Clarion duo of Ross Pringle and Jared Schmader. All five individuals put up impressive accolades during the 2010-11 season. In addition to Deimel’s NCAA and Sweithelm’s PSAC Championship exploits, Boyle, the 2009 PSAC individual champion, boasted the PSAC’s leading stroke average of 73.1 and two individual medals. Pringle finished second in the PSAC in scoring average behind Boyle with a 73.2 average while Schmader captured the individual championship at the NCAA regionals, one of two individual medals for him on the season. Three IUP golfers were also selected to the second team – 2008 PSAC individual champion Leo Acklin, Derek Baker and Zack Kempa – giving the Crimson Hawks a league-high five all-conference picks. Lefever, the Freshman of the Year, also made the second team while California’s Paul Babashanian rounded out the team.
Deimel is the first Gannon golfer or coach to claim a PSAC postseason award. He averaged a 74.3 score in 23 rounds of competitive golf this year, which ranked fourth in the PSAC, and came up big in the three biggest tournaments of the year. He placed fourth at the PSAC Championships, fourth at the NCAA regionals and 11th at the NCAA Championships, competing as an individual at both the regional and national championships. He was the second-highest PSAC finisher at the regional, behind only Schmader, and the aforementioned top PSAC finisher at the national tournament. The Erie native placed in the top 20 in 10 tournaments in the top 10 in five.
Lefever becomes the first West Chester athlete to be awarded the Freshman of the Year honor in the recorded history of PSAC golf awards. He is also just the second athlete to garner any award, as 2007 Golfer of the Year Jared Miller was the only other Golden Ram to previously win a PSAC postseason golf award. Lefever claimed two individual tournament titles on the season while compiling a 75.1 stroke average. He finished in 14th place at the PSAC Championships and tied for 47th place at the NCAA regional while finishing in the top 20 in seven tournaments and in the top 10 in five events.
Hammond becomes the first West Chester coach to be honored as the PSAC Coach of the Year. In just his third season as head coach, Hammond guided the Golden Rams to an NCAA regional appearance for the first time in seven years as they finished the year ranked fourth in the regional rankings. The Golden Rams placed ninth out of 20 teams at the regional. At the PSAC Championships last fall, West Chester finished in second place at 36-over par 612, 20 strokes behind champion IUP. That amounted to an improvement of 18 strokes from the team’s 2009 finish at the PSAC tournament, when it finished in fifth place at 54-over 630 and 38 strokes behind the champion.
2011 All-PSAC Men’s Golf Team
First Team
Brad Boyle IUP Jr. Kingston, Ontario
Drew Deimel Gannon Sr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep
Ross Pringle Clarion Jr. Titusville, Pa./Titusville
Jared Schmader Clarion Sr. Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood
Sean Sweithelm IUP So. Indiana, Pa./Indiana
Second Team
Leo Acklin IUP Sr. Falmouth, England
Paul Babashanian California Jr. Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge
Derek Baker IUP So. Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro
Zack Kempa IUP Fr. Brantford, Ontario
Connor Lefever West Chester Fr. Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township
PSAC Golfer of the Year
Drew Deimel Gannon Sr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep
PSAC Freshman of the Year
Connor Lefever West Chester Fr. Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township
PSAC Coach of the Year
Harry Hammond West Chester