Men's Golf | 4/24/2024 11:01:40 AM
The Empire 8 Conference is celebrating the league’s 25th Anniversary season in 2023-24, honoring student-athletes, teams, coaches and administrators who have played a key role in the league’s success over the last 25 years. Empire 8 Men’s Golf has enjoyed several individuals and teams that have excelled at the conference, national and regional levels.
St. John Fisher University won the inaugural E8 Men’s Golf Championship in 2002 and has not slowed down from there, winning an incredible 19 league titles, including nine in a row from 2010-2019. Nazareth University claimed back-to-back E8 titles in 2002 and 2003, while Susquehanna University won the 2009-10 championship and Utica University won their first E8 Championship in 2020-21.
St. John Fisher head coach Bob Simms is a 10-time Empire 8 Coach of the Year and has led the Cardinals to all 19 league championships, Marty Coddington of Nazareth and Mike Howard of SUNY Oswego have earned three E8 Coach of the Year accolades apiece, while Kevin Edwards of Moravian University and the Utica duo of Dave Clausen and Brian Marcantonio have earned two E8 Coach of the Year awards each.
The St. John Fisher quartet of Scott Harris, Jr. (2006-07, 2007-08), Tyler McArdell (2010-11, 2011-12), Thad Weir (2012-13, 2013-14) and Corey Haas (2014-15, 2015-16) the lone student-athletes to win back-to-back E8 Individual Medalist and Player of the Year honors. In addition, Bryce Barber of St. John Fisher University (2021-22) is the only student-athlete to claim E8 Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year accolades in the same season. Haas is also the lone four-time All-Empire 8 first team selections. Eight different student-athletes have garnered three All-E8 first team honors, most recently, Ryan Fecco of Oswego and Josh Kienz of Utica.
At the national level, Scott Harris Jr, won the 2008 NCAA Division III Individual National Championship by five strokes. He also led the Cardinals to a third-place overall team finish in 2008. McArdell earned GCAA/Ping First Team All-American honors in 2011-12. Chris Blyth of St. John Fisher was a three-time All-American, earning third team accolades in both 2012-13 and 2013-14 and honorable mention accolades in 2014-15. McArdell, Weir and Haas were all two-time All-Americans. In 2016, St. John Fisher hosted the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship.
Below we are honoring members of the Empire 8 Men’s Golf 25th Anniversary Team. Recipients were chosen by the league office and were named either a Runner of the Year, Empire 8 Individual Champion, All-American or earned All-Empire 8 first team honors at least three times in their collegiate careers.
Empire 8 Men’s Golf 25th Anniversary Team
Jason Baker, St. John Fisher
Bryce Barber, St. John Fisher
Chris Blyth, St. John Fisher
Nick Calabrese, St. John Fisher
Brandon Christo, Elmira
Karl Deuble, St. John Fisher
Ryan Fecco, SUNY Oswego
Benjamin Fox, St. John Fisher
Zach Fuller, St. John Fisher
Corey Haas, St. John Fisher
Scott Harris, Jr., St. John Fisher
Josh Kienz, Utica
Tyler McArdell, St. John Fisher
Colin McGaugh, St. John Fisher
Ryan McGinnis, St. John Fisher
Mitch Mercer, Susquehanna
Sean Paul Owen, SUNY Oswego
Joe Radulski, St. John Fisher
Brian Seeley, Nazareth
Mike Stackus, St. John Fisher
Frank Szucs, Stevens
Nick Tellone, St. John Fisher
Nick Velasco, St. John Fisher
Thad Weir, St. John Fisher
Founded in 1999, the Empire 8 has developed into one of the premier NCAA Division III athletic conferences, both on the field and in the classroom. The conference has created and implemented innovative and groundbreaking sportsmanship programming over this time, many of our which have received great publicity, including features in USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The NCAA News, and various athletic profession publications. The Empire 8 has also been highly influential in helping to shape the Division III landscape, passing many legislative proposals along with individuals who hold leadership roles at the national level.
Feature stories and series’ celebrating the league’s 25th anniversary will be highlighted on the conference's website and social media platforms throughout the 2023-24 season, starting in September. The conference will also be using the #E825 and #E8Anniversary hashtags on its Twitter and Instagram platforms as a way for fans to follow along throughout the year.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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