Men's Golf | 4/23/2026 10:00:00 AM
The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2025-26 Men’s Golf All-Conference awards on Thursday, April 23. Sophomore Colin Patterson of St. John Fisher University was named Player of the Year, Raine Rumble of SUNY Canton earned Rookie of the Year honors, while Kevin Cain of Russell Sage College was named the E8 Coach of the Year.
The league champion Cardinals led the way with three of the top five individual scorers, while Nazareth University had four golfers earn all-league honors. Runner-up Russell Sage College and SUNY Canton each had three all-conference honorees. The awards were based on results from the 2025-26 Empire 8 Championship, in which the first two rounds were held at Teugega Country Club in Rome, NY on Oct. 12-13 and final 36 holes were played April 19-20 at at Lebanon Country Club in Lebanon, PA.
St. John Fisher won its fifth straight league title and 21st Empire 8 Championship in program history on April 20. The Cardinals will compete at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship, set for May 12-15 at Mission Resort Club in Howey-In-The-Hills, FL.
Patterson was second after the first two rounds in the fall before taking control of the leaderboard by carding a third round score of 76, tied for the low round of the day. Patterson built a four-shot lead before recording a final round score of 82 to finish with 305 strokes, outlasting teammate Nick Years by two strokes to win the individual medalist title. Patterson is the 13th different St. John Fisher student-athlete to win E8 Player of the Year honors.
Rumble was named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year after finishing third overall over the four rounds with a score of 310. He shot a 74 during the first round, 79 in the second round and 80 during the third round, before carding a 77 during the final round, which was the third lowest among all E8 student-athletes. He led all E8 student-athletes by shooting a 157 over the final two rounds on April 19-20.
Cain helped guide Russell Sage to runner-up honors, its best finish in program history at the 2025-26 Empire 8 Championships. The Gators were just four strokes off the team lead heading into the final round had three golfers earn All-E8 honors. It is the first E8 Coach of the Year honor for Cain.
St. John Fisher sophomore Nick Years, the 2024-25 Empire Rookie of the Year, teammate Jack Doran and Lincoln Crosby of Nazareth, the reigning Player of the Year and 2023-24 Rookie of the Year, joined Patterson and Rumble as top-five finishers to earn All-E8 first team accolades. Crosby earned All-Empire 8 first team accolades for the third straight season, while Years garnered his second consecutive first team accolade.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2025-26 Men’s Golf Tomorrow’s Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they “compete with honor and integrity” and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
“Developing character and integrity is a hallmark of the Empire 8,” said E8 Executive Director
Chuck Mitrano. “This series is proof that Empire 8 and our member institutions are committed to intercollegiate athletics’ important role in higher education.”
2025-26 Empire 8 Men’s Golf Award Winners
Player of the Year: Colin Patterson, So., St. John Fisher
Rookie of the Year: Raine Rumble, Fr., SUNY Canton
Coach of the Year: Kevin Cain, Russell Sage College
Empire 8 First Team
Colin Patterson, So., St. John Fisher – 305 (Massena, NY/Massena)
Nick Years, So., St. John Fisher – 307 (Farmington, NY/Victor)
Raine Rumble, Fr., SUNY Canton – 310 (Governeur, NY/Governeur)
Lincoln Crosby, Jr., Nazareth – 311 (Chevy Chase, MD/DeMatha Catholic)
Jack Doran, So., St. John Fisher – 312 (Victor, NY/Victor)
Empire 8 Second Team
Tyce Helmick, Jr., SUNY Oswego – 313 (Ontario, OR/Ontario)
Luke Finlan, So., Russell Sage – 314 (Albany, NY/LaSalle Institute)
Nathan MacDonald, Sr., Utica – 314 (Canton, MA/Canton)
Kahontiio Lazore, So., SUNY Canton – 317 (Akwesasne, NY/Salmon River)
Jackson Vatter, Fr., Russell Sage – 317 (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem)
Empire 8 Third Team
Sam Ligas, Fr., SUNY Oswego – 319 (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton)
Anthony Marion, Sr., SUNY Canton – 319 (Plattsburgh, NY/Beekmantown)
Vincent Falgiatano, Sr., Nazareth – 320 (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes)
Jack Fesetch, Fr., Nazareth – 320 (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads)
Ryan Arp, Jr., Russell Sage – 321 (Greenville, NY/Greenville)
Jaxstin Bingham, Nazareth – 321 (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta)
Koltin Pickell, Fr., Utica – 321 (Ellenville, NY/Ellenville)
Empire 8 Tomorrow’s Leaders Team
Anthony Marion, Sr., SUNY Canton (Plattsburgh, NY/Beekmantown)
Tyler Green, Sr., Keuka (Sackets Harbor, NY/Sackets Harbor)
Jack Fesetch, Fr., Nazareth (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads)
Sam Ligas, Fr., SUNY Oswego (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton)
Josh Slater, Sr., SUNY Poly (Albany, NY/Colonie)
Nicholas Park, Fr., Russell Sage (Fort Lee, NJ/Fort Lee)
Gavin Ruggio, Fr., St. John Fisher (Oswego, NY/Oswego)
Aydin Parekh, Jr., Utica (Nobleton, Ontario/Blyth Academy)