June 11, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., June 11, 2008 - After earning just the third ever, modern era NCAA Championship berth in program history, the Penn State men's golf team has been honored with numerous post-season honors including a record four players named to the Mid-Atlantic All-Region team and sophomore Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) named an honorable-mention All-American.
Head coach Greg Nye was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach-of-the-Year, the sixth coach-of-the-year honor of his career, by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) after guiding the Nittany Lions to an eighth place finish in the NCAA Central Regional and the teams first NCAA Championship berth since 2004. The Nittany Lions fired a team score of 286 in the second round to post the best round of the regional and earn the programs 16th NCAA berth, but just the third since the regional format began. All three regional advancements have come under Nye.
Foley, who earned Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors last season, led the Nittany Lions at the NCAA Championships finishing tied for 23rd with a 15-over par total of 303. Foley, who entered the tournament ranked No. 91 in the nation, made the NCAA's final round cut as an individual and earned GCAA Division I PING honorable-mention All-American honors for his efforts. He is just the 12th Nittany Lion golfer to earn GCAA All-America honors and the first since 2004.
"Kevin had a tremendous fall season winning two events against outstanding fields, one going away, and then came up big in the NCAA Regional and the NCAA Finals to polish off a super year," Nye said. "He has been a special player for us, and I look forward to his play and leadership over his final two years here at Penn State."
Foley was one of a record four Nittany Lions to earn GCAA All-Region honors. He was joined by seniors Robert Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) and Harvin Groft (State College, Pa.) and fellow sophomore T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) on the Mid-Atlantic All-Region team as four of the Nittany Lions' five starters earned region honors. Rohanna, who also earned All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season, led the Nittany Lions at the NCAA Central Regional firing a 1-under par 70, tied for the best score of the final round, to finish second, just one shot off the pace of individual winner.
"Robert leaves our program as one of the most accomplished student-athletes we have ever had," Nye said. "He was the individual champion in five events, which equals the all-time Penn State mark, and was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and our first, first-team selection. He twice earned GCAA All-American scholar honors and achieved a Penn State first with his second place finish in the regional. His leadership will be very tough to replace."