BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by first-team selections Brody Bonfilio and Ethan Casto, the Western Washington University men’s golf team had five players selected to the 2017-18 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Conference Team.
In addition to Bonfilio (Fr., Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly) and Casto (So., Snohomish, WA) being named to the first team, Adam Barker (Sr., Gig Harbor, WA/Peninsula/Olympic College), Michael Butler (Jr., Sammamish, WA/Skyline) and Cody Roth (Jr., Bellingham, WA) were voted by GNAC coaches as Second Team All-GNAC selections.
WWU’s 2017-18 GNAC Men’s Golf All-Conference Selections: Brody Bonfilio (1st team & Freshman of the Year), Ethan Casto (1st Team), Adam Barker (2nd team), Michael Butler (2nd Team) and Cody Roth (2nd Team).
Bonfilio was voted as the conference Freshman of the Year after finishing the regular season leading the team and ranked 2nd in the conference with a stroke average of 73.00 (+1.29 to par). He is the third WWU player to win the GNAC Freshman of the Year award, joining Thomas Jun (2008) and Butler (2016).
Casto was also voted to the first team after his late-season surge resulted in winning individual medalist honors at the GNAC Championships April 23-34 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Casto turned in a three-round score of 4-under-par 209, recording rounds of 67 (-4), 75 (+4) and 67 (-4). He won the sudden death playoff by recording a birdie to become the seventh Viking to win medalist honors in the 11-year history of the conference championships. The sophomore enters the NCAA Division II Championships 2nd on the team and 6th in the GNAC with a scoring average of 73.85 (+2.07 to par).
Barker is 5th on the team and ended the regular season 10th in the GNAC with a scoring average of 74.42 (+2.67). The senior recorded 6 rounds of par or better during the season and is coming off a 14th-place tie at the GNAC Championships.
Roth was selected to the All-GNAC team for the first time in his career as a second-team selection. He finished the regular season 4th on the team and 9th in the GNAC with a scoring average of 74.30 (+2.63 to par). He finished 11th at the GNAC Championships (+7, 220) and recorded a top 15 finish in each of the final three tournaments of the season leading up to next week’s NCAA Championships.
Butler was named Second Team All-GNAC for the second time in his career, also earning all-conference honors as a freshman in 2015-16. Butler finished 3rd on the team and 8th in the GNAC with a season scoring average of 74.19 (+2.41 to par), with 6 rounds of par or better during his junior campaign.
Simon Fraser’s Chris Crisologo was named the GNAC Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, with SFU head coach Matthew Steinbach being named Coach of the Year. Concordia’s Jaxson Daskalos was the GNAC Newcomer of the Year.
The Vikings will be making their 20th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Championships next week as the No. 8 seed in the West Region of the West/South Central Super Regional played at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas May 7-9.
