GCAA Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - The 2019-20 Saint John's University golf team earned Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Academic team recognition for the 12th consecutive season on Thursday, July 23.

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. 

The 15 Johnnies combined for a 3.59 team GPA to earn the program's 12th honor in the award's 12th year of existence. 

A total 250 schools submitted GPA's of 3.0 or above, with SJU and 33 others earning Presidents Special Recognition Honors (a team GPA of 3.5 and above).

David Schneider '20 earned his second consecutive GCAA All-America Scholar award in June, while seniors Preston Kopel (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Foley) and Max LaBine (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) received their first. The Johnnies have now had an All-America Scholar each of the last 21 years, for a total of 35 during that span.

To be eligible for All-America Scholar, student-athletes must be either a junior or senior with a season scoring average under 79.0, a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and have participated in 50 percent or more of the team's events during the season. The new guidelines for the 2019-20 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed sophomores for the first time and lowered the participation requirement to 40 percent of the team's competitive rounds. 

A two-time GCAA All-American and GCAA All-Central Region selection, Schneider graduated in May with 3.67 GPA in biology. He led SJU with a 74.2 scoring average in 17 rounds and four top-10 finishes in the fall portion of the 2019-20 schedule. Schneider was All-MIAC three times and ended his career tied for ninth in school history with a 75.2 scoring average in 87 rounds. He registered 16 top-10 finishes during his four-year career, including six in the top five.

An economics major with a 3.98 GPA, Kopel earned 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and the 2019 NCAA Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the NCAA Championship. He also received the 2019 MIAC Elite 22 Award, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA among the top-10 finishers at the MIAC Championship, last fall. Kopel led the Johnnies by tying for third at the 2019 MIAC Championship and ended the fall schedule with a 75.1 scoring average, including a team-leading four rounds at par or better. He begins his senior season with a 75.9 average in 59 career rounds.

A psychology major, LaBine tied for 13th out of 120 golfers with a two-round total of 148 (+5) at the SJU Fall Invitational and finished with a 76.9 scoring average in eight rounds last fall.