FERRIS' BECKY HOFFMAN TABBED GLIAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

*2004-05 All-GLIAC Women's Golf Release* PDF

Freshman Becky Hoffman (Gaines/Swartz Creek) of the Ferris State University women's golf team has been named the 2004-05 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Golf Freshman of the Year as announced recently by the conference office.

Becky Hoffman was tabbed as the GLIAC's Freshman of the Year.

Hoffman also received first-team all-conference accolades as did three of her teammates -- junior Elena Robles (Torrance, Calif./Redondo Union), sophomore Casey McKinnon (St. Ignace/LaSalle), and freshman Missy Ward (Fenton/Linden). Hoffman became the third Bulldog women's golfer to earn both the GLIAC Freshman of the Year and all-league first-team plaudits, joining McKinnon (2003-04) and Robles (2002-03).

Sophomore Heidi Aittama (Livonia/Churchill) represented the Bulldogs on the all-league second team.

Grand Valley State's Melissa Sneller was a repeat pick as the GLIAC's Player of the Year while Coach of the Year honors was presented to GVSU head coach Lori Stinson for the second straight season.

The All-GLIAC Women's Golf selections were based upon a player's stroke average in her 10 best rounds in league play, including the GLIAC Tournament rounds. All ties were broken by total strokes in the GLIAC Tourney.

Hoffman, who was recently named to the 2004-05 National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-America Honorable Mention Team, averaged 79.10 strokes per round (2,373 total strokes) in 30 rounds this season. She posted six top-10 finishes this season, including four top-five efforts. She fired a team-best ninth-place 305 four-round score at the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championships.

Ferris' top golfer this season, Robles landed a spot on the league's first team for the second time in her career (2002-03) after being named to the second team last season (2003-04). She averaged a school single-season record 78.03 strokes (2,341 strokes) in 30 rounds and led the Bulldogs at the GLIAC Championships (April 29) with a second-place 149 score. Robles, the Bulldogs' stroke average leader the last two seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05) then followed with a team-best 238 total at the NCAA Division II East Regional (May 2-3) to tie for third place. A 2004-05 NGCA Second-Team All-America honoree, Robles registered a team-leading 11 top-20 placings and had seven in the top five. She currently is third among the school's all-time leaders with a 79.70 career average (6,695 strokes) in 84 rounds.

McKinnon, who received first-team all-league kudos for the second straight season, placed fourth among the squad's leaders with an 80.83 strokes average (2,422 strokes) for 30 rounds. She racked up seven top-20 placings, including three top-five tourney efforts. McKinnon's highest tourney placing was fourth at the Ball State Cardinal Classic (Sept. 11-12) as she generated a two-round 147 score to tie for top team honors. McKinnon shot a fifth-place tying 239-three round total at the NCAA-II East Regional. A 2003-04 NGCA All-America Honorable Mention honoree, McKinnon presently ranks fourth on FSU's career average leaders chart with an 81.17 (4,708) for 58 rounds.

Ward produced a squad fifth-best 81.53 average (2,446 strokes) in 30 rounds of competition. She turned in six top-20 efforts and placed third at the GLIAC Championships with a two-round 155-stroke total. She carded a 163 at the 36-hole Findlay William "Bing" Beall Classic (Oct. 3-4) to claim a tie for sixth place.

Aittama averaged 81.81 (2,209 strokes) in 27 rounds this campaign which was sixth best on the team. She had five performances among the top 20 with a fifth-place tying 164 two-round score representing her season best effort. An all-conference first teamer a season ago, Aittama fired a 158 at the GLIAC Championships to garner seventh place and then shot a three-round 241 to tie for eighth at the NCAA-II East Regional. Aittama's 322 score at the 2005 NCAA-II Championships (May 11-14) represented Ferris' third-best output.

Ferris State capped off another highly-successful season as the Bulldogs recorded a fourth-place 1,251-stroke total at the sixth annual NCAA-II Women's Golf Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. The Bulldogs posted their second consecutive top-four finish in the program's fifth national tourney appearance. FSU registered its highest placing ever for a Bulldog women's athletics team by tying for second place at the 2004 NCAA-II Championships in Longwood, Fla.