May 6, 2006

Indianapolis, IN -- After a disappointing Friday, the Northern Illinois University men's golf team made a comeback for Saturday's (May 6) conclusion of the Mid-American Conference Championships.

In addition to climbing up a notch for a sixth-place team finish, the Huskies were represented across the board during the post-meet award ceremonies. Senior Nick Schenk (Batavia) became the first NIU golfer to receive a first-team all-conference award in nine years as the MAC coaches made him one of five honorees on the All-MAC First-Team. Thanks to a solid final round on Saturday, sophomore Zach Jecklin (Bloomington) finished fourth in the three-day league championship meet in order to earn MAC All-Tournament acclaim. And on a final front, both Schenk and Jecklin were chosen by the league's faculty athletic representatives to the Academic All-MAC unit for men's golf.

Defending champion Kent State University repeated as the top team for 2006 by compiling a one-over-par 1153 scorecard for the 72-hole tourney contested on the par-72, 6,994-yard Brickyard Crossing Golf Course, located in the shadows of the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. The Golden Flashes, who claimed their 12th Mid-Am crown over the last 15 years, expanded a five-stroke lead after Thursday's initial 36 holes into a 15-stroke lead after Friday. Kent State then completed the tournament 11 strokes ahead of runner-up Ball State Univesity. BSU's Cardinals talllied an 1164 followed by Eastern Michigan University at 1167.

Then came a drop-off in scoring which had Miami (OH) University fourth at 1181 followed in order by the University of Toledo (1182), the Huskies (1184), the University of Akron (1194), Ohio University (1196), and Bowling Green State University (1198).

Individually, Kent State teammates Marc Bourgeois and Tommy Weigand shared medalist honors with identical 285 totals. It marked the second year in a row that KSU teammates shared the individual title with Weigand becoming the fifth person in MAC history to be a back-to-back titlist and the first since Miami's Sean Gorgone in 1990.

Historically for Northern Illinois, Schenk is the first NIU golfer to earn first-team all-league honors since Tim Countryman acheived Midwestern Collegiate Conference First-Team status in 1997. Schenk, who was a Second-Team All-MAC pick last year as was Countryman in 2000, is Northern Illinois' initial First-Team All-MAC honoree since NIU's return to the Mid-American in 1998 after having left the league following the 1986 tourney. Scott Matheson was a First-Team All-MAC golfer that season when the Huskies placed third as a team after having won the Mid-Am crown in 1985.

"There's no question Nick is a solid golfer and a consistently good player, although he had some troubles in the middle of this event. For his senior year, he's had top 10 showings in eight of 10 tournaments," NIU coach John Clearly noted. "His 70 (for Saturday's final 18 holes) was the second best score for the final round despite some chilly and windy conditions that made the course play that much tougher. That's why so many scores were higher."

Schenk opened the tourney with a one-over 73 but then had a 77 on Thursday followed by a 76 on Friday before his two-under-par closing round. Jecklin went from a 72 and 74 on day one to a 71 for a share of fifth place on Friday. His even-par 72 on Saturday gave him a 289 that put him one-over for 72 holes, and one stroke behind third-place finisher Brandon Boonmsma (288) of Ball State.

"Zach had another really solid round. As a team, I thought we played well despite the conditions. Finishing sixth is an indication we're moving in the right direction," Cleary added, noting that it's NIU's highest finish since returning the MAC fold in 1998.

Both Schenk and Jecklin earned Academic All-MAC honors for their success on the course and in the classroom. Schenk has compiled a 3.210 grade-point-average as a senior accountancy major while Jecklin has a 3.660 in finance as a sophomore. Athletes must have a minimum 3.20 cumulative gpa with freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and transfers not eligible for the academic all-conference squad which is voted for by member schools' faculty athletic representatives.

Cleary was also encouraged with regard to the Huskies' future based on Jecklin and fellow sophomore Jared Steger (Winnetka / New Trier) finishing among the top 15 in the league. Steger, who was the day one co-leader, had a 75 on Saturday to finish 14th individually with a 294. Freshman Alex Wagner (St. Charles / East) was tied for 33rd with a 309 while Ethan Roush (Mt. Zion / Decatur) tied for 41st with a 311 scorecard.

MEN'S COLLEGIATE GOLF -- Northern Illinois University in the Mid-American Conference Championships / at Indianapolis, IN / Brickyard Crossing Golf Course / Final 72-Hole Results / Saturday / May 6, 2006

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (at Indianapolis, IN / Brickyard Crossing Golf Course / Par: 72 / Yardage: 6,994)

FINAL 72-HOLE TEAM STANDINGS: 1---Kent State (286-289-283-295) 1153; 2---Ball State (290-290-293-291) 1164, 3---Eastern Michigan (291-294-288-294) 1167; 4---Miami-OH (289-298-294-300) 1181; 5---Toledo (291-301-294-296) 1182; 6---Northern Illinois (288-299-300-297) 1184; 7---Akron (293-293-299-309) 1194; 8---Ohio (292-295-303-306) 1196; 9--Bowling Green State (303-302-294-299) 1198.

FINAL 72-HOLE INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: 1---Marc Bourgeois (Kent State) 71-73-70-71---285; 2---Tommy Weigand (Kent State) 73-69-68-75---285; 3---Brandon Boomsma (Ball State) 72-73-71-72---288; 4---Zach Jecklin 72-74-71-72---289; 5---C.D. Hockersmith (Ball State) 70-73-76-71---290; 6---Heath Ziglar (Bowling Green State) 77-74-71-69---291; 7--(Tie)--Grant Christman (Ohio) 73-73-74-72---292 / Richard Kilpatrick (Toledo) 74-75-72-71---292 / Korey Mahoney (Eastern Michigan) 78-74-70-70---292 / Chris Ross (Eastern Michigan) 74-74-70-74---292 / Matt Thomas (Miami-OH) 70-74-73-75---292.

OTHER HUSKIE SCORECARDS: 14---Jared Steger 69-71-79-75---294; T21---Nick Schenk 73-77-76-70---296; T39---Alex Wagner 76-77-74-82---309; T41---Ethan Roush 74-77-80-80---311.

MAC 2006 AWARD WINNERS MAC Golfer of the Year: Korey Mahoney (Eastern Michigan) MAC Freshman of the Year: Chris Ross (Eastern Michgian) MAC's Earl Yestingsmeier Sportsmanship Award: John Johasky (Ohio) MAC's Kermit Blosser Coach of the Year: Herb Page (Kent State)

First-Team All-MAC for 2006: Patrick Wilkes-Krier (Ball State) Korey Mahoney (Eastern Michigan) Nick Schenk (Northern Illinois) Ryan Yip (Kent State) Tommy Weigand (Kent State) Marc Bourgeois (Kent State)

Second-Team All-MAC for 2006: Brand Boomsma (Ball State) Heath Ziglard (Bowling Green State) Graham Hill (Eastern Michigan) Matt Thomas (Miami-OH) Mark Cimarolli (Ohio)

2006 MAC All-Tournament: Tommy Weigand (Kent State) Zach Jecklin (Northern Illinois) Brandon Boomsma (Ball State) C.D. Hockersmith (Ball State) Marc Bourgeois (Kent State)

NIU's Academic All-MAC Honoress: Nick Schenk (Batava) Zach Jecklin (Bloomington)

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