July 13, 2007

GCAA 2007 All-America Scholars

PHILADELPHIA, PA - John Pelet and Jordan Utley of Richmond, Charlotte's Andrew DiBitetto and Jonas Enander Hedin, and Ben Howe of St. Bonaventure have been named to the 2007 GCAA Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar Team.

To be selected to the Cleveland Golf All-American Scholar Team, a student-athlete must be a junior or senior with a 3.2 minimum cumulative GPA and a scoring average of under 76.0.

Howe, who graduated in May with a degree in marketing, maintained a 3.3 cumulative grade point average over his four years on campus. The Osceola, Pa., native was also named to the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team this season.

Howe led the Bonnies to a program-best third place finish at this year's A-10 Championships and a combined four team tournament titles in the fall and spring. At A-10's in Florida, Howe fired a 69-75-71/215 to finish one-under par and in a tie for 13th place. He will return to the St. Bonaventure in the fall to pursue his master's in Business Management while serving as the assistant golf coach.

"I am extremely proud of Jordan and John's accomplishment," Richmond coach Adam Decker said. "Making the Academic All-America Team is a very tough thing to do at such a challenging institution. It really shows the hard work and devotion to both their studies and their golf. Both are great representatives of the University of Richmond and I am glad to be a part of their time here."

Utley earned Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference honors this spring, along with being selected to the PING All-Mid Atlantic Region Team. The Richmond, Va., native and former Mills Godwin High standout played in all 11 tournaments in 2006-07. He was second on the team with a 74.18 stroke average. Utley led the Spiders with seven rounds under par on the year and posted on tournament under par, winning the Joe Agee Invitational. He finished in the top-20 in all six tournaments he played in the spring season.

Pelet, who earned Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference honors and Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors as a junior in 2005-06, was third on the team this past season with a 75.75 scoring average. The Atglen, Pa., native was one of three Spiders to play in all 11 events with one top-5 finish and two top-15 finishes. His best finish in 2006-07 was tying for fourth at the Big 5 Invitational.

DiBitetto led Charlotte to a program-best third-place finish at the NCAA Championships by finishing tied for ninth place at two-under par 278. It was the best-ever individual finish at the NCAA Championships in program history. DiBitetto, who posted a 72.8 stroke average this season, holds the 49ers school record for career stroke average at 72.88. He finished runner-up at the A-10 Championship and earned All-Conference honors.

Enander Hedin earned PING GCAA All-South Region honors and led the 49ers with a 71.86 stroke average, just the second player in 49ers history to record a single-season stroke average under 72.0. He tied for 14th at the NCAA East Regionals as the 49ers again advanced to the National Championships. He placed tied for 35th at the NCAA National Championship as the 49ers placed third overall, matching the best-ever finish by a 49ers sports program in school history. During the season, he had five top 10 finishes. In addition, Enander Hedin had a 3.77 grade point average in business management.