Thomas and Ryan Garner Top ASUN Honors; 4 Named All-Conference
4/24/2023 6:13:57 PM | Men's Golf
Liberty Head Men’s Golf Coach Jeff Thomas and freshman Josh Ryan received some of the ASUN Conference’s top postseason honors heading into this week’s championship event.
Thomas has been named the 2023 ASUN Men’s Golf Coach of the Year, while Ryan was selected as the ASUN Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year.
Additionally, the Flames placed four golfers on three different all-conference teams, while two student-athletes were named to the ASUN All-Academic Team.
Liberty, the No. 1 seed in this week’s ASUN Championship at the RTJ Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Ala., secured two of the five spots on the ASUN Men’s Golf First Team All-Conference listing. Senior Jonathan Yaun and Ryan received those selections.
Senior Austin Barbin was named to the ASUN Men’s Golf Second Team All-Conference squad. Redshirt junior Isaac Simmons was named to the ASUN Men’s Golf Third Team All-Conference listing.
Ryan was also named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team, while Simmons and senior Connor Polender rounded out Liberty’s award winners with selections to the ASUN All-Academic Team.
This is the fourth conference Coach of the Year honor for Thomas and his first in the ASUN Conference. Thomas was named the Big South Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2018.
Thomas led the Flames to the top regular season ranking in the ASUN Conference this season as Liberty enters the postseason championship ranked No. 39 in the country.
Liberty is seeking its second ASUN men’s golf title (first in 2021) and its seventh conference title during Thomas’ 18-year tenure as Liberty’s head coach (since the 2004-05 season).
Ryan becomes Liberty’s first-ever ASUN Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year. He is also the program’s seventh golfer to claim the honor at the Division I level (six players were named Big South Freshman of the Year).
Ryan was the top-ranked freshman golfer in the ASUN Conference this year. He comes into this week’s championship event with a No. 172 Golfstat individual national ranking and holds an 88-2 record against ASUN golfers this season.
The native of Norristown, Pa., ranks second on Liberty’s roster with a 71.36 season stroke average. He has posted five top-20 finishes and played 15-of-33 rounds (45.5 percent) at par or better during his rookie season.
Yaun becomes the 10th golfer in ASUN Conference history to be a four-time all-conference selection and the second in program history (joining Kieran Vincent).
Yaun was named to the ASUN second team in 2021 and 2022 and the ASUN first-team all-conference listing in 2020.
The native of Minneola, Fla. leads the Flames with a 71.30 season stroke average and has recorded a top-20 finish in 7-of-11 events during his senior campaign. He posted 11 sub-70 rounds this season and claimed his second career medalist honor with a playoff victory at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in the fall.
Barbin, a native of Elkton, Md., garners his first postseason honors with the Flames after transferring to Liberty from Maryland for the 2021-22 season. He ranks sixth in the ASUN with an 84-6 record against conference competition this season and ranked third on the team with a 72.00 season stroke average. He played 16-of-33 rounds (48.5 percent) at par or better.
Simmons ranked fourth on Liberty’s roster with a 72.15 season stroke average, the best of his four-year career with the Flames. The native of Huddleston, Va. posted a 78-12 record against ASUN competition and played 15-of-33 rounds (45.5 percent) at par or better.
This is the second academic honor of Polender’s five-year career with the Flames. The native of Lake Bluff, Ill., was also a 2021 GCAA/All-America Scholar selection. He posted a career-best 72.42 season stroke average this year and played 17-of-33 rounds (51.5 percent) at par or better for the Flames in 2022-23.
2023 ASUN Men’s Golf Postseason All-Conference Honors
Golfer of the Year - Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida
Freshman of the Year - Josh Ryan, Liberty
Coach of the Year - Jeff Thomas, Liberty
Scholar-Athlete of the Year - Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State
ASUN First Team All-Conference
Name School Cl. Hometown
Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida, Jr., Trinity, Fla.
Robbie Higgins, North Florida, Jr., Bradenton, Fla.
Josh Ryan, Liberty, Fr., Norristown, Pa.
Jonathan Yaun, Liberty, Sr., Minneola, Fla.
Matt Gauntlett, Stetson, Jr., Watford, England
ASUN Second Team All-Conference
Name School Cl. Hometown
Jason Hong, Lipscomb, Gr., Lidcombe, Australia
Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State, Jr., Vasteras, Sweden
Austin Cherichella, FGCU, Jr., Orlando, Fla.
Ford Goldasich, Lipscomb, Sr., Homewood, Ala.
Austin Barbin, Liberty, Sr., Elkton, Md.
ASUN Third Team All-Conference
Name School Cl. Hometown
Isaac Simmons, Liberty, R-Jr., Huddleston, Va.
Ollie Smith, Queens, Sr., Brighton, England
Alexandre Vandermoten, Jacksonville, R-Jr., Baillargues, France
John Houchin, Stetson, Jr., Merritt Island, Fla.
Francois Jacobs, North Alabama, Sr., League City, Texas
ASUN All-Freshman Team
Name School Hometown
Josh Ryan, Liberty, Norristown, Pa.
Luke Bischoff, Bellarmine, Louisville, Ky.
Luke Sienkiewicz, Central Arkansas, Germantown, Tenn.
Justin Begley, Eastern Kentucky, Manchester, Ky.
Sam Baker, FGCU, Cloquet, Minn.
Shaun Cook, Kennesaw State, Norcross, Ga.
Justin Ross, North Florida, Boca Raton, Fla.
2023 ASUN All-Academic Team
Name GPA School Cl. Hometown Academic Major
Erik Jansson, 3.89, Jacksonville State, Jr., Vasteras, Sweden, Management
Isaac Simmons, 3.76, Liberty, R-Jr., Huddleston, Va., Finance
Gregor McKenzie, 4.00, Lipscomb, Sr., Oxford, England, Management
Austin Cherichella, 3.54, FGCU, Jr., Orlando, Fla., PGA Golf Management
Connor Polender, 3.53, Liberty, Sr., Lake Bluff, Ill., Sport Management
