The St. Thomas men’s golf team won its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 31 seasons Monday at the Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids.
Coach Scott Proshek said the team has long awaited the victory.
“It was very rewarding, and I’m happy. We’ve been knocking on the door a good number of years now,” Proshek said. “It’s nice to be on top. It’s been the other way around for too long now.”
Athletic Director Steve Fritz said this is a big moment for the team.
“We’ve been close a few times and things like that, but to win the golf tournament is really, really exciting,” Fritz said. “We’re very proud of them.”
Freshman Alex Kapraun, junior John Young and freshman Bennett Schroeder placed in the top 10 individually in the 54-hole tournament. Kapraun, who tied for first place with a 5-over-par and was also named MIAC Men’s Golf Co-Athlete-of-the-Week, said the win means a lot to the team.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet like how monumental this was for the school and for the university. It’s funny to see the upperclassmen like our captains Mike (Mortenson) and John (Young) as well as Brian Parkhurst. You could tell they knew what it meant more than I did or the other freshmen did. It was cool to see that.”
The team beat Gustavus College by four strokes and three-time defending champions St. John’s University by five strokes. Junior Brian Parkhurst said the win was a team effort.
“It was a combination of some really good leadership from the older guys and some really, really good freshmen.”
Kapraun said the team enjoyed preventing rival St. John’s from winning four MIAC titles in a row.
“Coach had told us, ‘You know, St. John’s, they’re pretty much the ones to beat. After that it’s Gustavus.’ To beat both of them at the conference meet and get the automatic bid to the NCAA (tournament) is pretty sweet.”
Junior captain John Young agreed that “it was pretty cool” to beat St. John’s.
“I guess it was kind of nice to be the one’s where they’re shaking our hands instead of us shaking their hands. It was awesome.”
Junior captain Michael Mortenson said despite the big win, the team is focused on performing well at the Twin Cities Classic tournament this weekend.
“We can’t have a let down,” Mortenson said. “We still have to play the best that we can play, and we still have to prepare like we have for every other week.”
By winning the MIAC championship, the team secured an automatic berth to the May 2012 NCAA championships. Mortenson said he cannot wait.
“This year it happens to be in Orlando and that’s going to be really fun to go down to Florida and play. I’m looking forward to it.”
Cynthia Johnson can be reached at john3175@stthomas.edu.