INDIANAPOLIS – University of Missouri-St. Louis sophomore Colby Yates has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Friday. University of Indianapolis newcomer Andrew VanAelst and mentor Brent Nicoson were voted as GLVC Freshman and Coach of the Year, respectively, while five individuals from three member schools completed the 10-member All-Conference team.
Yates, a native of Tonganoxie, Kan., finished tied for 14th at the GLVC Championships with a 54-hole score of 222 (73-72-77) and posted a perfect 2-0 record in match play competition as the Tritons finished runner-up to Indianapolis. Prior to competing at this past week’s NCAA Midwest/Central Super Regional, Yates was selected by the 14 league coaches based on his 73.84 season average over his 32 rounds that included the conference championship. Yates had eight top-20 finishes, six top-10 results, four top-fives, and placed as high as second overall at the Brickyard Crossing in the fall where his lone loss was to the nation’s top player. Rated by Golfstat national player rankings as the conference’s highest-ranked player entering NCAA action, Yates had 31 of his 32 rounds count toward the team score this year. He is the first UMSL golfer to have ever earned GLVC Player of the Year honors.
VanAelst is the third Greyhound newcomer to garner GLVC Freshman of the Year accolades, joining Jacob Yocum in 2011 and Aaron Monson in 2009. The Muskegon, Mich., native carded a 75.2 stroke average in 27 rounds prior to competing in NCAA Super Regional competition, highlighted by 90 holes played at the GLVC Championship at 4-under-par. He finished sixth in stroke play competition at 216 (73-69-74) and then turned in identical 2-under 70s in a pair of wins in match play to help UIndy to the team title. VanAelst achieved six top-20 finishes, five top-10 results, and three top-fives on the year.
Nicoson made it a clean sweep this spring as both his men’s and women’s teams captured the GLVC Championships for the second straight year, which earned him GLVC Coach of the Year on both sides. This honor marks Nicoson’s fourth of his career as he was also recognized by his peers on the men’s side in both 2008 and 2009 and in 2013. This season he guided his Greyhounds to their GLVC-record 15th conference crown as well as their 10th consecutive NCAA Regional berth. In addition to coaching VanAelst to All-Conference honors, Nicoson also mentored two other Hounds to All-GLVC distinction. Junior Tucker Guisewite earned All-GLVC acclaim after winning the GLVC Championship medalist crown, while senior David Frank joined VanAelst as two of the five conference standouts voted All-Conference by the league coaches.
The remaining three honorees included Missouri-St. Louis’ Yates and Joe Atkisson as well as University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s Jake Wisniewski. The top-five finishers at the GLVC Championship included Guisewite, McKendree’s Nathan Nottrott and Garrett Sneed, UMSL’s Anthony Cope, and Lewis’ Robert Dofflemyer.
The complete 2014 GLVC All-Conference team and postseason honorees are listed below.
2014 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Colby Yates, UMSL
2014 GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Andrew VanAelst, UINDY
2014 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR
Brent Nicoson, UINDY
2014 GLVC MEN’S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Nathan Nottrott, MCK
Garrett Sneed, MCK
David Frank, UINDY
Tucker Guisewite, UINDY
Andrew VanAelst, UINDY
Robert Dofflemyer, LEWIS
Joe Atkisson, UMSL
Anthony Cope, UMSL
Colby Yates, UMSL
Jake Wisniewski, UWP