May 8, 2007
ST. LOUIS -
The 2007 Missouri Valley Conference champion Illinois State men's golf team added another plaudit to its resume, as senior Ryan Brown was named to the 2007 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced by the league office Tuesday. Brown, who was a scholar-athlete team selection in 2004, joins three other repeat selections on this year's six member team.
Brown, who holds a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.89, is currently pursuing a masters degree in business administration. A native of Staunton, Ill., Brown tied for 26th at the 2007 State Farm MVC Championship, shooting his career-low round of 71 during the tournament and finished with a total of 230. The 2006 L. Durwood Boone Endowed Scholarship recipient competed in six tournaments, and was in the lineup for all three of the Redbirds' team titles during 2006-07. His best finish of the season occurred at the Branson Creek Invitational, where he placed 20th.
The senior golfer also has earned recognition from the Valley, as he received the MVC President's Council Academic Award during the 2005-06 season. He was also chosen to represent the conference as the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) representative to the NCAA.
Brown is joined on the first-team by Evansville's Chris Bouchard and Matt Hunsaker, Derek Bohlen of Northern Iowa, Creighton's Matt Kouri and Andrew Gwinup (Southern Illinois). Bouchard, Bohlen and Kouri are all repeat selections to the league's first-team. Missouri State's Damaso Carrera, Michael Daum of Evansville and Kyle Teeling (UNI) all received honorable mention honors.
The criteria for the MVC scholar-athlete team parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for academic ESPN the Magazine All-America voting. Nominees must be `starters' or important reserves with at least a 3.00 cumulative GPA. Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore status academically and have participated in at least 50 percent of their team's rounds or played at the Valley Championship.
Brown and the Redbirds will be back in action on May 17-19, when they compete at the NCAA Central Regional. The tournament, hosted by Northern Illinois, will be held at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
