Thursday, May 16, 2019
PORTLAND, Ore. – A week after competing in the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s golf regional tournaments, a trio of GNAC golfers are among those named to the Google Cloud/CoSIDA Division II Academic All-District 8 At-Large Teams.
Western Washington senior Michael Butler and Concordia junior Jaxson Daskalos were named to the men’s at-large team while Concordia senior Shantel Antonio was selected to the women’s at-large team.
The Academic All-District At-Large Teams are made up of student-athletes from NCAA championship sports that do not have their own team in the Google Cloud Academic All-America program.
All three golfers were named First Team All-GNAC in April. Butler, who has a 3.47 GPA as an accounting major, was a key component of the Vikings’ GNAC championship team. One of four Western Washington golfers in the top-four in the GNAC in stroke average, Butler finished tied for second with teammate Nick Sparling at 72.6. Unable to compete in the postseason due to injury. Butler topped his season with a fourth-place finish at the Notre Dame de Namur Argonaut Invitational in March.
Daskalos finished the season ranked fifth in the GNAC with a 73.4 stroke average. The junior tied for fourth place at the GNAC Championships with a three-round score of 215 and opened the season by taking medalist honors at the Yellowjacket Fall Invitational in September. One of two Concordia golfers to earn at-large selections to the NCAA Championships, Daskalos tied for 51st at the Division II South Central/West Super Regional with a score of 220.
Antonio finished her season ranked fourth in the GNAC with a 77.2 stroke average. She finished fourth at the GNAC Championships with a two-round score of 152. One of two Concordia golfers selected for the NCAA West Regional Championships, Antonio tied for 19th place with a three-round score of 227. Antonio was the medalist in three tournaments, most recently the Sonoma State Spring Invitational in April.
Five other student-athletes from GNAC schools that compete in non-GNAC championship sports were also named to the at-large teams. Men’s selections include Alaska junior ice hockey player Anton Martinsson and Simon Fraser senior swimmer Adrian VanderHelm. Women’s honorees include Western Washington sophomore rower Maddie Bangasser, Simon Fraser junior swimmer Kristen Olvet and Alaska Anchorage senior skier Casey Wright.
Nominated by and voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the Google Cloud Academic All-District and All-America programs recognize student-athletes who demonstrate excellence both on the field and in the classroom. Nominees must be of sophomore standing or higher, be a starter or important reserve on their team and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or greater.