Wednesday, April 22, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – Finishing his career as one of the conference’s most elite golfers, Western Washington senior Ethan Casto leads the selections to the 2019-20 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Conference Team.

Casto was named the GNAC Player of the Year and earned a first-team nod for the third time. A three-time Player of the Week selection in his senior campaign, Casto earned the award five times in his career, which is tied for fourth-most in conference history.

Casto led the conference with a 71.6 stroke average over 21 rounds, finishing with 12 rounds of par or better. He placed in the top-10 at all but one event that he competed at and finished in the top-three three times. Casto won September’s Western Washington Invitational on a two-hole playoff with a score of 10-under-par 206 and finished tied for second place at the Saint Martin’s Invitational at 11-under-par 205 just three days prior.

In his third full season as head coach of the Simon Fraser golf programs, Matthew Steinbach earned the Men’s Golf Coach of the Year award for the second time. The Clan led the conference with a 288.6 scoring average over 15 rounds and finished the season ranked No. 16 in the Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll. The Clan placed in the top-five in four out of its five events, winning the Saint Martin’s Invitational and October’s Concordia Invitational and finishing in second at the Western Washington Invitational.

Jørgen Viken made the most of his first and only season at Concordia as he earned Freshman of the Year and first-team honors. Viken finished second in the conference with a 71.8 stroke average over 14 rounds, finishing in the top-10 twice. He was one of three players to turn in a conference-low round of 65, which came in the second round at the Concordia Invitational, where he finished tied for sixth place.

Western Washington sophomore Aidan Thain was named the Newcomer of the Year and was selected to the second team. Thain finished with a 74.2 stroke average. His top performance came at October’s Dennis Rose Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii, as he placed third with a score of 3-under-par 213.

Concordia and Simon Fraser each landed three players on the first team. Joining Viken from the Cavaliers are senior Jaxson Daskalos and freshman Viktor Ölund. Also joining the first-team selections from the Clan are senior Scott Kerr and sophomores Aidan Goodfellow and Isaac Lee. Rounding out the first team is Saint Martin’s sophomore Max Turnquist.

Daskalos joins the first team after earning second-team honors last year. Daskalos was tied for third in the conference with a 72.0 stroke average over 15 rounds and finished with eight rounds of par of below. He placed in the top-10 three times, finishing tied for third place at February’s Bay Area Invitational in Pleasanton, California, with a score of 1-under-par 215.

Ölund shined in his freshman campaign, finishing eighth in the conference with a 72.8 stroke average. He opened the spring season with a win at the Bay Area Invitational with a score of 4-under-par 212, which included a low round of 65 in the second round.

Kerr was tied with Daskalos with a 72.0 stroke average over 15 rounds, finishing with six rounds of par or below and placing in the top-10 three times out of five events to earn his second first-team nod. Kerr finished tied for first place at February’s Cal State San Bernardino Coyote Classic with a score of 3-over-par 216 but earned medalist honors after winning a six-hole playoff to open the spring season in style.

Goodfellow was selected to the first team after earning second-team honors as a freshman. He was fifth in the conference with a 72.3 stroke average and placed in the top-five at two events. Goodfellow’s low round of 65 in the second round of the Concordia Invitational lifted him to a tie for third place with a score of 2-under-par 211 to pace the Clan to the team title.

Lee earned his second selection to the first team after he finished sixth with a 72.4 stroke average and had seven rounds with par or better. He carded a 68 in the second round and a 66 in the third round to finish tied for first place with Casto at the Western Washington Invitational but lost on the second playoff hole.

Turnquist landed on the first team after finishing with a 73.1 stroke average over 18 rounds, which included eight rounds of par or below. Turnquist finished as the runner-up at the Concordia Invitational, carding a three-round score of 3-under-par 210. He shot a pair of 2-under-par 69 scores in the first and third rounds of the event to put himself two strokes behind the champion.

Concordia, Simon Fraser and Western Washington led the way with four all-conference selections apiece. Three players earned their third All-GNAC selections in Casto, Kerr and Western Washington junior Brody Bonfilio. Bonfilio earned a second-team selection after earning first-team honors in each of his first two seasons in Bellingham.

Casto, Viken, Daskalos, Kerr and Goodfellow were named to the PING Division II All-West Region Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Casto went on to earn selection to the PING Division II All-America Third Team, released Tuesday.

2019-20 GNAC MEN'S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Ethan Casto, Western Washington
Coach of the Year: Matthew Steinbach, Simon Fraser
Freshman of the Year: Jørgen Viken, Concordia
Newcomer of the Year: Aidan Thain, Western Washington