WVWC golfer Francisco Taboada earns All-MEC Freshman and First Team honors

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Following second round action at the MEC Spring Classic at Edgewood Country Club on Tuesday afternoon, the Mountain East Conference announced its 2022-23 men’s golf award winners and all-conference teams.

The All-MEC men’s golf team is selected based on individual performances by players during five rounds of MEC sponsored play during the 2022-23 season. The first three rounds of MEC play took place from Oct. 3-5 at Avalon Golf and Country Club in Warren, Ohio during the 2022 MEC Golf Championships. The final two rounds were played over the last two days at Edgewood Country Club during the 2023 MEC Spring Classic.

Alex Easthom followed up his first-place finish at the MEC Championships by also topping the leaderboard at this week’s MEC Spring Classic – shooting a 67 in the first round on Monday and finishing the tournament with a 71 on Tuesday afternoon. With an average of 71.0 during five rounds of MEC sponsored play, Easthom has earned MEC Player of the Year honors for the third-consecutive season.

Joining Easthom on the All-MEC first team was his Hilltopper teammate Bo Orecchio, the Davis & Elkins duo of Jack Coleman and Lewis Beeden, Glenville State’s Juan Monckeberg, West Virginia Wesleyan’s Francisco Taboada and Charleston’s Rory Gorman. This year’s first team features seven players due to a tie at No. 6 in the standings.

In addition to being named to the All-MEC first team, Monckeberg and Taboada split MEC Freshman of the Year honors in 2022-23 with an average of 73.4 during MEC sponsored play this season.

The Davis & Elkins duo of Jordan Hyland and Evan Lewis were named to the All-MEC second team, along with Fairmont State’s John Logan Taylor, and Charleston’s Erik Ulvang and Cole Darbyshire.

Six MEC standouts also earned MEC honorable mention, including Fairmont State’s Alex Turowski, Charleston’s Pau Sanchez, Notre Dame’s Jimmy Graham and the Glenville State trio of Shaydon Johnson, Mathias Nunez and Bumin Choi.

Charleston head Will Johnson was recognized as the MEC Men’s Coach of the Year. Johnson has now won seven MEC Coach of the Year awards, including three times on the men’s side and four times on the women’s side.

During this week’s MEC Spring Classic, Davis & Elkins took first place with 574. Charleston (582), West Liberty (588), Glenville State (596) and West Virginia Wesleyan (607) rounded out the top five. Easthom was the individual medalist at the event with a four-under par (138) after the two rounds of play. Taboada took second place this week at one-under par (141), while Beeden and Gorman tied for third at even-par (142).

Mountain East Conference men’s golf programs will continue competing during the spring, with four programs currently ranked in the Atlantic Region Rankings (Charleston, Davis & Elkins, Glenville State and West Liberty).

Mountain East Conference
2022-23 Men’s Golf Postseason Awards/All-Conference Teams

Player of the Year
: Alex Easthom, West Liberty
Freshman of the Year (co-): Juan Monckeberg, Glenville State
Freshman of the Year (co-): Francisco Taboada, West Virginia Wesleyan
Coach of the Year: Will Johnson, Charleston

First Team
Alex Easthom, West Liberty
Juan Monckeberg, Glenville State
Francisco Taboada, West Virginia Wesleyan
Rory Gorman, Charleston
Jack Coleman, Davis & Elkins
Bo Orecchio, West Liberty
Lewis Beeden, Davis & Elkins

Second Team
Jordan Hyland, Davis & Elkins
John Logan Taylor, Fairmont State
Erik Ulvang, Charleston
Evan Lewis, Davis & Elkins
Cole Darbyshire, Charleston

Honorable Mention
Alex Turowski, Fairmont State
Shaydon Johnson, Glenville State
Pau Sanchez, Charleston
Mathias Nunez, Glenville State
Bumin Choi, Glenville State
Jimmy Graham, Notre Dame College

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