Wheeling, W. Va. – Over three days at the Stonewall Resort in Elkins, West Virginia, the Wheeling University Men's Golf team put together a record setting performance. They would place second overall at the event, posting a three-round score of 887, finishing with their highest team placing at the event in program history. The Cardinals were rewarded for their efforts, with Cormac Pearson, Sean Dobson, Elias Ekenes-Fosback, and Lodin Femoen each being named to the All-Mountain East Conference (MEC) teams, marking the most award winners for the program in their history.
Cormac Pearson is taking home his first career All-MEC honor, and was also named the MEC Freshman of the Year. Pearson would pace the Cardinals at the event, finishing third in the field with a three-day score of 219 (+3). He was the highest finishing freshman at the event, earning him the first Freshman of the Year Award in program history. He would start the tournament with a bang, shooting his lowest score of 71 (-1) over the first 18 holes. He would shoot five of his 10 birdies for the tournament in that round, with three of those coming on the back nine. Pearson would finish up his round with a pair of consistent showing, shooting 74 (+2) in each of the final two rounds of play. As a result of finishing in the top five of the event, Pearson was also named a member of the MEC's All-Tournament team, rounding out his list of honors for the event.
Joining Pearson on the MEC All-Tournament team was graduate student Sean Dobson, who took home the second All-MEC honor of his career. After finishing just one stroke shy of earning First Team All-MEC honors for the first time in his career, finishing fifth overall in the field. He would shoot a three round score of 221 (+5), with his best performance also coming on the opening day of competition. He would shoot a 72 (E) to open the championship, with three birdies coming in that first round. He followed that up with a consistent showing in the final two rounds, shooting 74 and 75 respectively. He has been the Cardinals leader all season long, and continues to be one of the top golfers in the Atlantic Region.
The final two Cardinals each took home their first career All-MEC honors, with Elias Ekenes-Fosback earning Second Team All-MEC honors. After shooting a 77 in the first round, the sophomore would bounce back over the final two rounds of competition. He would put together his best performance in round two, tying for the team lead, shooting 74 over the second round of 18. He was aides by a pair of birdies, including a big one on hole 18 to finish out the round. In the end, he was able to jump into the top 10 of the event, finishing in a tie for eighth in the fueld. Ekenes-Fosback had a a breakout performance at last year's National championship event, and continued that success into his fall championship event.
Rounding out the list of All-MEC honorees for the Cardinals was Lodin Femoen, who earned Honorable Mention All-MEC honors after finishing 16th in the field. Femoen has been having a career year this fall, and continued that success on the conference championship stage. He would shoot a 229 (+13) across the three day event, shooting about the same score each day. Day one would be his top showing, shooting a 75 (+3) and finishing third on the Cardinals that day. Femoen would round out the event with a 78 in round two and a 76 in this three to finish off the event. That final day would be enough to get him into All-MEC standing, as he finished out a strong tournament.
With the announcement of the All-MEC Men's Golf teams, the Wheeling University Athletic Department has now had four students earn All-Conference honors. The Wheeling Men's Golf program set a new program record for honorees, after having three All-MEC honors a season ago. Last year, Sean Dobson, Zak Collins, and former Cardinal Troy Loughry were honored for their efforts between the fall and spring seasons.
The Wheeling University Men's Golf team returns to action on Monday, October 19, when they take on the Findlay Invitational with tee times beginning around 10 AM.
