GCAA Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The 2018-19 Saint John's University golf team earned Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Academic team recognition for the 11th consecutive season on Wednesday, July 17.

To be eligible for All-Academic Team honors, a college or university must submit the grade points earned and hours attempted for each player on its official squad list for the academic year and carry a team GPA of 3.00 or higher. 

Eleven Johnnies combined for a 3.35 team GPA to earn the program's 11th honor in the award's 11th year of existence. 

A total 198 schools submitted GPA's of 3.0 or above, with 34 of those schools earning Presidents Special Recognition Honors (a team GPA of 3.5 and above).

Jack Koehler '19 earned his second consecutive GCAA All-America Scholar award in May, while senior David Schneider (Albany, Minn.) received his first. The Johnnies have now had an All-America Scholar each of the last 20 years, for a total of 32 during that span.

A two-time GCAA All-America Scholar, Koehler graduated May 12 with a 3.45 GPA in economics. He led SJU with six rounds at par or better and finished third with a 75.7 average in 27 rounds this season. The conference coaches selected Koehler as an All-MIAC honoree for the second consecutive season in early May.

A biology major with a 3.61 GPA, Schneider was named 2018-19 GCAA Division III PING All-America honorable mention and ended the season second on the team with a 74.6 average in 29 rounds. Although SJU missed the cut as a team at the NCAA Championship, Schneider qualified as an individual for the final two rounds. Schneider finished 21st out of 216 golfers with a four-round total of 297 (+9). 

Sophomore Preston Kopel (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Foley) earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the NCAA Championship, in May thanks to a perfect 4.0 GPA in economics. The honor was the SJU golf program's second in the last three seasons as Mack Farley '17 won the award in 2017. Kopel averaged a 76.0 over 27 rounds in 2018-19.

The Johnnies open the 2019-20 season Sept. 7-8 at the Pioneer Creek Collegiate Invitational in Maple Plain. SJU competes outside of the state Sept. 14-15 at the NCAA Preview in Florida (PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens), the site of the 2020 NCAA Division III Championship, and Oct. 13-15 at the Golfweek Division III Preview in Destin, Fla. The MIAC Championship is Oct. 5-7 at the Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.