Springfield, Ohio – Wittenberg University golfers Ben Hogenkamp (Minster, Ohio/Minster), John Chaney (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) and Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) have capped a spectacular 2013-14 season with All-America honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
Wittenberg was one of four programs to place an NCAA Division III-best three student-athletes on the GCAA’s 2014 All-America list. Hogenkamp and Chaney each earned third-team All-America awards, while Andrews was named honorable mention, equaling the program record of three All-Americans in one season previously established in 1989.
Hogenkamp, Chaney and Andrews were among an NCAA Division III-best five Tigers to earn first-team All-Great Lakes Region honors. Andrews also was a second-team All-American in 2013, while the national honors are the first in the collegiate careers of Hogenkamp and Chaney.
Hogenkamp finished his career with back-to-back All-Great Lakes Region and first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) honors after claiming the Bob Nye Award as the medalist of the 2013-14 NCAC Championship Series. Hogenkamp led the Tigers with a 74.11 stroke average while finishing in the top-10 seven times in 12 tournaments.
Chaney enjoyed a breakthrough in his second season in the Red & White, ranking second on the team with a 74.18 stroke average. He was a first-team All-NCAC selection after winning one tournament and recording five top-5 finishes during the 2013-14 season. Hogenkamp and Chaney both finished in the top 30 nationally in scoring average.
Andrews finished fourth on the team in stroke average of 74.96, but he topped the squad at the NCAA Division III Tournament by placing 25th with a four-round total of 300. The winner of the NCAC’s Bob Nye Award as conference medalist and the Dick Gordin Award as Player of the Year in 2013, Andrews won one tournament and posted five top-10 finishes during the 2013-14 season. A first-team All-NCAC honoree in both 2012 and 2013, Andrews also earned first-team all-region and second-team All-America a year ago.
The Tigers finished fifth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, the second-best performance in program history. Wittenberg earned its national tourney berth following their fifth consecutive NCAC championship. The Tigers have made a total of 20 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances and 21 national tournament appearances overall, including a 1974 berth in the NCAA College Division Tournament.
Wittenberg finished first in seven of its last eight tournaments during the 2013-14 regular season. The Tigers hoisted championship trophies at the prestigious Gordin Classic, the DePauw Small College Classic, Huntingdon’s Wynlakes Intercollegiate, Ohio Wesleyan’s Strimer Invitational, Denison’s Ted Barclay Spring Invitational, and both NCAC Championship Series events.
Written By: Ryan Maurer