Lock Haven, Pa. - IUP senior Gavin Smith has been named the PSAC Men’s Golfer of the Year for the third straight year as the former NCAA individual champion headlines the 2009-10 PSAC postseason awards for men’s golf. Clarion freshman Bill Stover is the PSAC Freshman of the Year while IUP head coach Fred Joseph is the Coach of the Year.
Smith (Stirling, Scotland) is the Golfer of the Year for the third straight season in addition to already having been named to the PING Division II All-American first team for the second straight year last month. Formerly a PSAC Freshman of the Year in 2007, he was also named to the All-Atlantic Region team this year. Smith, who won the individual title at the NCAA Championships last year, had another strong season in his final year at IUP, leading the Crimson Hawks with a 73.92 stroke average. He won individual medalist honors at four different tournaments this spring, including at the NCAA East/Atlantic Super Regional, where he was the only golfer in the field to shoot under par for the tournament. Ranked the No. 1 player in the Atlantic Region by Golfstat, Smith finished in the top 10 in six tournaments this year, including a tie for first at the PSAC Championships last fall, only to lose in a playoff on the first hole to teammate Brad Boyle. Smith tied for 54th place at the NCAA Championships this year, helping lead IUP to a 10th place finish at NCAAs.
Stover (Apollo, Pa.), a redshirt freshman for Clarion, enjoyed a tremendous turnaround season for the Golden Eagles just one year after not making the team as a true freshman. After trying out and just making the team this year, Stover emerged as the No. 3 golfer in Clarion’s starting lineup for much of the season. His 79.1 stroke average was among the best on the team and he finished in the top 20 in two events this year, including a tie for 17th place at the PSAC Championships that helped the Golden Eagles finish in fourth place. At the NCAA Super Regional, he finish in a tie for 45th place and helped the Golden Eagles advance onto the NCAA Championships by finishing in fifth place, just one team stroke in front of the sixth place team, with only the top five qualifying for the national championships. Stover is the third straight Clarion golfer to earn the Freshman of the Year honor, joining his teammates Ross Pringle, who won the award last year, and Jared Schmader, who was honored as the league’s top freshman in 2008.
Joseph has now been honored by his colleagues as the PSAC Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year and for the 10th time in his career. Joseph, who just completed his 18th year as head coach of the Crimson Hawk program, also earned the award in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. In addition to guiding IUP to its third straight PSAC championship back in October, he coached the Crimson Hawks to a second place finish at the NCAA Super Regional and a 10th place finish at the NCAA Championships. That 10th place showing is the program’s best finish at NCAAs under Joseph and is also its highest NCAA finish in school history, besting the previous best finish of 12th place, which came both in 1993 and last year.
2009-10 PSAC Men’s Golf Awards
Golfer of the Year
Gavin Smith, IUP
Freshman of the Year
Bill Stover, Clarion
Coach of the Year
Fred Joseph, IUP