FERRIS LANDS FOUR ON ALL-GLIAC WOMEN'S GOLF FIRST TEAM

*2006-07 All-GLIAC Women's Golf Release* PDF

Becky Hoffman

Casey McKinnon

Alison Meyer

Missy Ward

Four women's golf student-athletes from Ferris State University's 2007 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship team have received first-team all-conference recognition while two others were named to the second team. The all-conference teams were released Thursday (April 26) by the GLIAC office.

Junior Becky Hoffman (Gaines/Swartz Creek), senior Casey McKinnon (St. Ignace/LaSalle), sophomore Alison Meyer (Duluth, Minn./Central) and junior Missy Ward (Fenton/Linden) were all first-team selections for the nationally fourth-ranked Bulldogs. Second-team honors were bestowed upon sophomores Raquel Hansen (West Olive/Grand Haven) and Meghan Hunter (Dexter).

Ferris State's six combined selections on either the first, second or honorable mention teams were the most of any GLIAC school. Grand Valley State had five individuals and Northwood three.

Northwood's Jamie Long was named the GLIAC's Women's Golf Athlete of the Year for 2007 while Caitlin Bennett of Grand Valley State was the conference's Freshman of the Year. The GLIAC Coach of the Year Award went to Dave Turner of Northwood.

The All-GLIAC Women's Golf Team was based upon a player's stroke average in her 10 best conference rounds, including the three rounds of the GLIAC Championships. All ties were broken by total strokes in the GLIAC Championship Tournament.

Hoffman and Ward garnered all-conference first-team laurels for the third straight year while McKinnon is only the second player in Ferris State women's golf program history to receive first-team All-GLIAC accolades all four years. For Meyer, the all-conference team honor was the first time in her career. Hansen was a repeat second-team performer and Hunter moved up to second team after earning honorable mention plaudits in 2006.

Hoffman presently leads Ferris State this season with a career-best 77.67 stroke average (1,631 total strokes) in 21 rounds and has registered eight top-10 finishes, which includes three among the top five. The 2004-05 National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American posted a seventh-place tying 238 score (+22) at the 2007 GLIAC Championships.

A two-time (2003-04 and 2005-06) NGCA All-America Honorable Mention pick, McKinnon also presently has a personal-best 78.81 stroke average (1,655 total strokes) in 21 rounds. She has placed among the top 20 seven times this season, which includes five in the top 10. McKinnon turned in a fifth-place 234 score (+18) at the conference tournament.

Meyer, who was named the GLIAC Women's Golf Athlete of the Week twice (April 3 and 24) this spring, led the Bulldogs to the 2007 conference crown as she fired a first-place 228 (+12) at the GLIAC Championships to capture top individual medalist honors for the first time in her collegiate career. The former walk-on is second among the team's best stroke average leaders at 78.14 (1,641 total strokes) in 21 rounds of play. Meyer has accumulated nine top-20 showings for the 2006-07 season with three of those in the top five.

Ward is averaging a team sixth-best 79.52 (1,670 total strokes) in 21 rounds to date this campaign. She has generated eight top-20 performances with five coming in the top 10. Ward carded a 247-stroke total (+31) at the 2007 GLIAC Championships to finish in 14th place.

Hansen has shown improvement this season from her previous one with a current career-leading 79.21 average (1,505 total strokes) in 19 rounds. Hansen has placed among the top 20 in seven 2006-07 tournaments and five of those have been in the top 10 finishers. She tied for ninth place at this spring's conference tourney as a resulf of shooting a 238 score (+25).

Hunter, who tied for second place with a 231-stroke total (+15) at the 2007 GLIAC Championships, presently ranks third among the Bulldogs' leaders with a a career-best 78.75 average (1,575 total strokes) in 20 rounds. She has eight top-20 finishes this campaign, which includes four top-10 efforts.

Becky Hoffman (2004-05) and Casey McKinnon (2003-04) are also GLIAC Freshman of the Year selections.

Ferris State, under eighth-year head coach Brad Bedortha, will be hosting the 2007 NCAA Division II Women's Golf East Regional Championships next week (April 30-May 2) at the Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich.