April 23, 2004
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907
UTSA places two on All-Southland Conference golf squads PLANO, Texas – UTSA senior Mike Mezei along with sophomore John Elizondo were each named to the All-Southland Conference first and third teams, respectively, it was announced Friday by the league office. Mezei, a Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada native, ranks fifth in the Southland with a 73.78 scoring average over 18 rounds this spring. He finished 19th at the SLC event with a 222 after carding a 69 in round one. Lamar University’s Chris Stroud is the unanimous choice as the Southland Conference men’s golfer of the year. Already the first SLC player ever to earn the award thee times in a career, Stroud now has four plaques signifying him as the best player in the Southland.
In addition, Stroud becomes the first player in league history to garner first-team All-Southland Conference as he heads up a list of five players named to the squad. Teammate Shawn Stefani also made the first team after helping the Cardinals to a second-place finish at the SLC championship earlier this week.
Stroud, a senior from Groves, Texas, was ranked No. 2 nationally in the Golfstat rankings heading into the SLC tournament. Trying to win his third individual medalist honor at the championship, Stroud tied for first before losing a sudden-death playoff to Robert (Scooter) Jefferson of Sam Houston State University on the first hole. Stroud finished the 54-hole event with a four-under-par 212. His season stroke average now stands at 69.94 over 17 rounds and he has six top-10 finishes in six spring events with a fourth place being his lowest showing.
Stefani finished 20th at the SLC tournament and has a 73.94 stroke average over 16 rounds this spring. The sophomore from Baytown, Texas, ranks seventh in the league in that category.
Joining Stroud and Stefani on the first team are teammates Brett Bergeron and Steven Tiley of Southeastern Louisiana University. Along with Stefani, the two Lions made the leap from the second team a year ago to the top squad in 2004.
Bergeron, a sophomore from LaPlace, La., ranks fourth in the league in scoring average at 73.67 while Tiley is No. 2 at 72.44 as each has played 18 rounds. Tiley has four top-10s to his credit, including a sixth-place finish at the SLC tournament where he shot rounds of 71-74-71 for an even-par 216. The duo helped SLU to a third-place showing at the championship, eight strokes behind the top two teams.
Stephen F. Austin State University’s Dustin Byrd has been voted newcomer of the year after finishing third behind Stroud and Jefferson at the Southland championship. He shot a 71-70-72--213 for a minus-3, his second-best tournament of the year. The Forth Worth, Texas, native who was voted to the third-team All-SLC, is a transfer from Tyler Junior College.
Jefferson used his individual medalist honor to earn himself a spot on the third team and has been voted freshman of the year in the league. The Spring, Texas, native birdied the first hole during a sudden-death playoff with Stroud on Wednesday after shooting a 74-68-70--212 in regulation to tie Stroud at minus-4.
After leading ULM to its first-ever Southland Conference team title, Richard Merritt has been named Southland Conference coach of the year. With the win, ULM will play in next month’s NCAA Tournament.
2004 ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEN’S GOLF
FIRST TEAM
Chris Stroud Lamar Sr. Groves, Texas
Mike Mezei Texas-San Antonio Sr. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Steven Tiley Southeastern Louisiana So. Canterbury, England
Brett Bergeron Southeastern Louisiana So. LaPlace, La.
Shawn Stefani Lamar So. Baytown, Texas
SECOND TEAM
Brian Grossman Stephen F. Austin So. Mansfield, Texas
Kevin Messer Texas State Sr. Missouri City, Texas
Bryan Vahlberg Louisiana-Monroe So. Norman, Okla.
Adrien Mork McNeese State Sr. Montbeliard, France
Casey Russell Louisiana-Monroe So. West Monroe, La.
THIRD TEAM
Robert (Scooter) Jefferson Sam Houston State Fr. Spring, Texas
John Elizondo Texas-San Antonio So. San Antonio, Texas
David Ward Sam Houston State Sr. Tyler, Texas
Tyrone Mordt Texas-Arlington So. Johannesburg, South Africa
Dustin Byrd Stephen F. Austin Jr. Fort Worth, Texas
Honorable Mention: Tim Kunick, ULM; Jeremy Dean, SHSU; Michael Mulryan,
SLU; Landon Allen, UTA.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chris Stroud, Lamar
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Dustin Byrd, Stephen F. Austin
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Robert (Scooter) Jefferson, Sam Houston State
COACH OF THE YEAR: Richard Merritt, Louisiana-Monroe
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