UMSL sophomore Colby Yates was named the GLVC Player of the Year in Men’s Golf. (Photo by Danny Reise)
University of Missouri–St. Louis sophomore Colby Yates has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year.
Yates was also named to the All-GLVC list, along with senior Joe Atkisson and sophomore Anthony Cope.
Yates, a criminology and criminal justice major, 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 UMSL Tritons finished runner-up to Indianapolis. Prior to competing at this past week’s NCAA Midwest/Central 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.
Atkisson, a business administration major with an international business emphasis and a student in the Pierre Laclede Honors College, earns All-GLVC accolades for the third time in his career. This season, he owned a stroke average of 74.89 and recorded four top-10 finishes. He graduates as the program’s all-time career scoring leader with a 75.27 average.
Cope, a business administration major, earned All-GLVC honors for the first time in his career after earning a top-five finish at the GLVC Championships. Cope shot a 215 (71-70-74) at the annual league event en route to a fourth place finish, his highest individually. On the year, his stroke average of 75.53 was third on the team.
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.
The remaining honorees included Wisconsin-Parkside’s Jake Wisniewski, along with the four other top-five finishers at the GLVC Championship, including Guisewite, McKendree’s Nathan Nottrott and Garrett Sneed and Lewis’ Robert Dofflemyer.
