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Somerset, NJ -- Following a terrific junior campaign, Bryant’s McKinley Slade (Saunderstown, RI/South Kingstown) was selected as the 2016 Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Golfer of the Year. Wagner was recognized with a pair of major awards as Lucas Moreno (Bogota, Colombia/Gimnasio Campestre) was named the NEC Rookie of the Year and Chris Fourman was voted NEC Coach of the Year by his peers.
 
Slade became just the second Bulldog to earn NEC Player of the Year honors after he posted seven top-10 finishes, including five top-five placings. The junior closed out the year with a 72.8 average per round, the lowest in the conference by a wide margin. Slade turned in three runner-up finishes at the NEIGA DI Championship (78-71=149), Towson Spring Invite (75-71=146) and the Rhode Island Invite (76-69-69=213). The two time NEC Player of the Week and the October NEC Player of the Month, Slade finished tied for fifth (69-75-72=216) at the NEC Championship while helping the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish. The Saunderstown, RI native posted five sub-70 rounds on the year. Jason Thresher was voted NEC Player of the Year for the Bulldogs back in 2010.
 
Moreno made it back-to-back NEC Rookie of the Year honorees for the Seahawks, following in the footsteps of teammate Erik Tedfelt. Moreno compiled three top-10 finishes in his last three tournaments and averaged 76.0 strokes per round on the year. The freshman was at his best when it counted most as he carded a pair of 70s through the first two rounds of the NEC Championship and finished with a two-under 214 to tie for third place. Moreno’s score tied for the sixth-best in NEC Championship history and helped spark Wagner it’s first-ever NEC Championship.
 
Fourman guided Wagner to the program’s first-ever NEC crown earlier this month after the Seahawks defeated Bryant in a two-hole playoff. It was a remarkable transformation for the Seahawks, who were picked seventh in the NEC preseason poll and finished sixth at the 2015 conference meet. Along with Moreno winning the NEC Rookie of the Year award, three of Fourman’s players achieved second team All-NEC status this season.
 
Robert Morris senior Garrett Browning (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) earned his first nod on the All-NEC first team and third All-Conference accolade of his career. Browning turned in four top-ten performance while collecting two individual titles. The senior finished first at the Leo Keenan Invitational after he carded a two-day score of 137 (68-69) and claimed his second title at Appalachian State after a one round score of 73. Browning closed his season with a 12th place finish at the NEC Championship. Browning, who was the NEC Co-Golfer of the Month last September, led the Colonials with a 74.6 stroke average, the fifth-lowest mark in team history and the best average of his career.
 
Joining Slade on the All-NEC first team were Bryant teammates Kyle Buschmann (East Haddam, CT/Xavier) and Ryan Tombs (Bedford, NH/Bedford). Buschmann, a senior, ended his career as a four-time NEC all-star and three-time first team honoree. The former NEC Rookie of the Year averaged 74.6 strokes per round and posted five top-10 finishes. Buschmann earned medalist honors at the Hartford Hawk Invitational last fall after carding a three-round score of 206 (70-68-68) and finished ninth at the NEC Championship. He was the NEC Co-Golfer of the Month last September. Tombs completed an impressive junior season with top-10 performances in all but four of his ten tournaments. Tombs earned NEC Player of the Month honors in March following a runner-up finish at the Lonnie Barton Invite (75-71=146). Tombs shot a three-under 69 in the final round of the NEC Championship to tie for first before being edged in a three-hole playoff. A two-time All-NEC first teamer and the 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year, Tombs finished the season with a 73.2 average per round, the second-lowest mark in the NEC.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson junior U Minn Woon (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/Bolles School) landed a spot on All-Conference first team after saving his best performance of the year for the NEC Championship in Daytona Beach, FL. After shooting a 74 in the first round, Woon came on strong, carding 69 and 70 over the final two rounds to finish tied for first at three-under 213. He went on to win a playoff on the third hole to become the seventh Knights, and first since 2010, to win the NEC individual title. Woon, who also took seventh at the Rutgers Invitational (69-71-71=211), went on to represent the NEC in the NCAA Franklin Regional hosted by Vanderbilt. He entered NCAA play with a 75.8 average per round.
 
NEC champion Wagner landed a trio of players on the All-NEC second team. Along with Moreno, junior Anton Frondelius (Munkedal, Sweden/The Gunnery) and sophomore Erik Tedfelt (Malmo, Sweden/National Golf Program) earned second team nods. Frondelius recorded five top-10 performances, including back-to-back third place showings at the Villanova Wildcat Invitational and Seahawks Shootout this spring. On the first day of the NEC Championship, he carded 67, which tied the lowest individual 18-hole score in championship history. Frondelius, a back-to-back NEC second team honoree, tied for ninth at the conference meet and headed into NCAA Regional play with a 75.0 stroke average per round. Coming off his NEC Rookie of the Year campaign as a freshman, Tedfelt posted two top-10 performances, his best coming at the Seahawk Shootout where he tied for fourth. Tedfelt averaged 75.3 strokes per round.
 
Stewart Gray (Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitot College) represented LIU Brooklyn on the All-NEC second team, his second such honor. Gray ended his senior year with an average of 75.1 strokes per round. His top performance was a runner-up finish at the Saint Peter’s Peacock Invitational in April.
 
Central Connecticut sophomore Anthony Sebastianelli (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) was one of three underclassmen to earn All-Conference second team acclaim. Sebastianelli completed four of his eight tournaments in the top-10. He opened his season with a fourth-place finish at the Ryan Lee Memorial Invite where he carded a two-round score of 142 (74-68), then closed his year with an eighth place showing at the NEC Championship (70-72-76=218). Sebastianelli averaged 74.8 strokes per round in 2015-16.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 35th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.
 
 
2016 NEC Men’s Golf Award Winners                   
                   
NEC Golfer of the Year
McKinley Slade          Bryant                Junior      Saunderstown, RI/South Kingstown

NEC Rookie of the Year
Lucas Moreno            Wagner                Freshman    Bogota, Colombia/Gimnasio Campestre

NEC Coach of the Year
Chris Fourman           Wagner

2016 NEC Men’s Golf First Team All-Conference              

Name                    School                Year        Hometown/High School
Garrett Browning        Robert Morris         Senior      Imperial, PA/West Allegheny
Kyle Buschmann          Bryant                Senior      East Haddam, CT/Xavier
McKinley Slade          Bryant                Junior      Saunderstown, RI/South Kingstown
Ryan Tombs              Bryant                Junior      Bedford, NH/Bedford
U Minn Woon             Fairleigh Dickinson   Junior      Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/Bolles School    

2016 NEC Men’s Golf Second Team All-Conference        

Name                    School                Year        Hometown/High School
Anton Frondelius        Wagner                Junior      Munkedal, Sweden/The Gunnery
Stewart Gray            LIU Brooklyn          Senior      Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College
Lucas Moreno            Wagner                Freshman    Bogota, Colombia/Gimnasio Campestre
Anthony Sebastianelli   Central Connecticut   Sophomore   Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights
Erik Tedfelt            Wagner                Sophomore   Malmo, Sweden/National Golf Program