Indiana University-East recently issued the following announcement.
Jake Miller earned the Golfer of the Year award and the Indiana University East men's golf team claimed the team runner-up plaque at the River States Conference Championship, which concluded April 12.
IU East posted a 54-hole team score of 923 on the par-71, 6,742-yard layout at Belterra Resort, including a final-round 300, to finish second in the 12-team event. Midway University claimed the team title with a score of 898.
"Great showing at the RSC golf championship by this group of young men. I'm awfully proud of all of them," said IU East coach Jeff Williams. "Congrats to Midway. We knew going in it would take a massive effort on our part to knock off a team that talented and that well-coached. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done.
"Down eight strokes after Day 1, we made a run early in the second round to cut it to about three or four strokes, but then a couple of bad holes put us in a position from which we couldn't recover."
Miller made a run at the top of the leaderboard before finishing in second place at the conference tournament for the second year in a row. His final-day surge made the difference in the Golfer of the Year calculations, which also incorporate results from the league's Fall Preview tournament.
Miller started the final round of the conference tournament in fifth place, nine strokes behind eventual RSC medalist Will Molen from Midway. Miller played the first 12 holes in 2-under and got within three strokes with five holes remaining, but a three-shot swing on the par-3 No. 14 proved decisive. Miller finished the day with a final-round-best of 70 and a 54-hole score of 222, four strokes behind Molen's winning total.
Miller is the fourth IU East golfer to win the conference Player of the Year award.
"Definitely a letdown getting second in both aspects," said Miller, who holds himself to the highest of standards, "but definitely something to build on next year. My putting wasn't great this week, and I feel like that's what held me back from winning.
"Overall I'm happy with how the team and I bounced back in the final round."
Said Williams: "Huge congrats to Jake. We all see his score and assume just another day on the golf course, but the guts and determination he displayed today were phenomenal. Conference player of the year could not have gone to a more deserving young man, and yet I'm sure he'd trade it in for a team title in a heartbeat."
Kyle Cochran also charged up the leaderboard on April 12. Cochran shot 74 in his last conference tournament round - including a birdie on his last conference tournament hole - and moved up five spots in the standings to finish 12th.
Cochran earned himself a spot on the All-RSC second team. He also represented IU East on the RSC Champions of Character team.
"We're all happy for Kyle earning an all-conference spot in his last trip to Belterra," Williams said. "A little bittersweet knowing he and (fellow senior) Rafa (Beirana's) RSC careers have come to an end."
Emiliano Tercero and Rafael Beirana both carded final-day 78s and finished 16th and 17th, respectively. Austin Shelley finished 21st with a three-day total of 240.
Due to the unusually early conference tournament, IU East will play a handful of additional spring events. The first of those post-conference tournament events is Taylor University's Ackerman-Allen Shootout, which will be played at Purdue University's Ackerman-Allen Golf Course on April 18.
Original source can be found here.
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