Chris Captain was named the MIAC Freshman-of-the-Year in the MIAC's postseason men's golf awards released Monday.
Bloomington, Minn. – A pair of Gustavus Adolphus men’s golfers were honored in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Golf Awards released Monday, May 11 by the league office. Rookie Chris Captain (Rochester, Minn.) headlined the awards for Gustavus by receiving the MIAC Freshman-of-the-Year Award. Captain was also named to the All-Conference Team along with junior teammate Matt Spier (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.).
St. Thomas senior Alex Kapraun (Rochester, Minn.) headlined the awards as the MIAC Player-of-the-Year, and Bethel’s Tony Weber added the MIAC Coach-of-the-Year award to his team’s conference title.
Chris Captain earns Rookie-of-the-Year distinction following his standout performance at the 2014 MIAC Championships where he won individual medalist honors after shooting a three-round 217 (+1). He was the only freshman to earn All-MIAC honors and his 76.0 stroke average led the team and ranked 12th in the conference. Captain completed his initial Gustavus campaign with two top ten finishes; the other being a runner-up showing at the Bobby Krig Invitational (April 19-20) where he shot a 223 (+9).
Matt Spier garners a place on the All-Conference Team for the first time in his career.
Matt Spier takes home All-Conference honors for the first time in his career. Spier finished 13th with a 229 (+13) at the MIAC Championships and proved to be Gustavus’s most consistent performer throughout the spring season. His top performances over the second half of the season included a second place outing (68, -3) against Flagler College on April 2, a seventh place finish (230, +16) at the Bobby Krig Invite, and a runner up showing (68, -4) at the UW-Eau Claire StoneRidge Classic on May 5. He shot under par a total of four times and finished second on the team with a 76.3 stroke average.
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC announced the ninth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team for men’s golf. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. Representing Gustavus on this year’ s squad was junior Andrew Brandt (Medina, Minn.).
FROM THE MIAC
This marked the second season the MIAC Golf All-Conference teams were selected using a combination of MIAC championship results and end-of-season voting. The top 10 finishers (including ties) at the MIAC championships in October automatically earned All-MIAC honors, and the coaches nominated and voted to add five additional players to the 15-member squad based on their body of work throughout the season.
The All-Conference team included four seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. MIAC champion Bethel was well-represented with four All-Conference honorees. Saint John’s and St. Thomas had three All-Conference selections each, Gustavus had two and Augsburg, Concordia and Carleton each had one.