NORMAN, Okla. – Former Anderson men's golf standout Alejandro de Castro was recently named as a NCAA Division II PING Honorable Mention All-America honoree by the Golf Coaches of America (GCAA).
Felipe Alvarez of Barry, Mauricio Figueroa of Texas A&M International, Felipe Garces Garzon of West Florida, Nate Jetton of Stanislaus State, Carl Miltun of Missouri S&T, Griffin Pace of Sonoma State, Exequiel Rodriguez of Oklahoma Christian, and Evan Thompson of North Georgia comprised the second team.
Third-team honorees included Nick Krueger of Grand Valley State, Chase McLain of Georgia Southwestern, Matt Millar of CSU Pueblo, Mateo Pulcini of Oklahoma Christian, Jamie Roberts of CSU Pueblo, Joel Sylven of Missouri-St. Louis, Sam Tandy of Harding, and JJ Zimmer of Union.
A total of 30 golfers were named Honorable Mention All-America.
De Castro helped lead the Trojans to the No. 1 spot in the national rankings last October, with the Black and Gold holding on to the top spot through the end of the regular season.
AU opened the year with five straight tournament championships and strengthened its hold on its No. 1 ranking by winning two of its final three tournaments and finished the year with seven tournament titles, including the program's first-ever South Atlantic Conference title.
The Trojans made the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2008 and finished 10th at the Southeast/South Regional Championship against arguably the toughest field in the country.
The native of St. Esteve Sesrovires, Spain was also named the recipient of the 2023 NCAA Division II Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award presented by StrackaLine in late May.
The 2023 South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year, de Castro recorded six top-20 finishes in 10 events in his lone season with the Trojans, including a wire-to-wire victory at the SAC Championship for his first collegiate win. He also earned PING All-Region and Second-Team All-SAC honors.
Former standouts Reece Coleman and Calahan Keever collected First-Team accolades at the conclusion of the NCAA Division II Championships in late May.
Division II PING All-America Team
First Team
Beck Burnette, Lee
Reece Coleman, Anderson
Charles DeLong, Grand Valley State
AJ Ewart, Barry
Elias Haavisto, West Florida
Linus Jonsson, Lander
Calahan Keever, Anderson
Jordan Lee, Western Washington
Andrew Riley, Palm Beach Atlantic
Second Team
Felipe Alvarez, Barry
Mauricio Figueroa, Texas A&M International
Felipe Garces Garzon, West Florida
Nate Jetton, Stanislaus State
Carl Miltun, Missouri S&T
Griffin Pace, Sonoma State
Exequiel Rodriguez, Oklahoma Christian
Evan Thompson, North Georgia
Third Team
Nick Krueger, Grand Valley State
Chase McLain, Georgia Southwestern
Matt Millar, CSU Pueblo
Mateo Pulcini, Oklahoma Christian
Jamie Roberts, CSU Pueblo
Joel Sylven, Missouri-St. Louis
Sam Tandy, Harding
JJ Zimmer, Union
Honorable Mention
Adam Alvarez, Florida Southern
Alejandro Armijo, Oklahoma Christian
Tyler Ashman, Chico State
Edvin Backstrom, Holy Names
Xavier Bighaus, Colorado Christian
Simon Björken, CSU Monterey Bay
Jackson Buccigross, IUP
Alejandro Gomez Cervantes, Dominican
Connor Curry, Malone
Alejandro de Castro, Anderson
Nicolas Escobar, Georgia Southwestern
Felipe Gomez, Clayton State
Donte Groppuso, St. Thomas Aquinas
Miller Harris, Henderson State
Michael Hay, Nova Southeastern
Caden Hodges, Fayetteville State
Hayden Hunneke, Carson-Newman
Jordan Hyland, Davis & Elkins
Alex James, Lincoln Memorial
Bill Koch, Post
Garrett Leek, Midwestern State
Gustav Liljedahl, Missouri S&T
Caleb Miller, Southern Arkansas
Oskari Nikku, Oklahoma Christian
Will O'Neill, Nova Southeastern
Sangha Park, UTPB
Matt Pennington, Cal State San Marcos
Josep Serra, Nova Southeastern
Ethan Wilkins, Henderson State
Dawson Wills, Washburn
