Mitchell named Player of Year as men's NAIA awards unveiled  PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- Oklahoma City's Daniel Mitchell has bbeen named the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Dillard's Inc./Hartmarx Corp. The award is presented annually to the national player of the year in NCAA Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA. Mitchell won three tournaments this season, including the NAIA National Championship. He also carded two top-five finishes and led the Stars to their sixth national championship in seven years. Mitchell also claimed the NAIA Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway Golf as the national championship individual medalist. In addition, Jacques Blaauw of Oklahoma City was presented with the NAIA Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's outstanding freshman. Blaauw finished in the top five on three occasions -- including one win -- despite playing only one semester for the Stars. Also, Kyle Blaser of Oklahoma City was named the Eaton Golf Pride NAIA National Coach of the Year. Blaser led the Stars to the NAIA National Championship for the sixth time in seven years. The squad also won four other tournaments this season. Additionally, Oklahoma City was runner-up three times and finished out of the top four only once. Finally, the NAIA unveiled its All-America and All-Freshman teams. The All-Freshman team includes Jacques Blaauw of Oklahoma City, Lucas Bogdan of Northwood, Sean Elliot of Oklahoma Christian, David Venegas of Johnson and Wales, and Lance Williams of Thomas. The All-Americans are Blaauw, Anthony Michael and Daniel Mitchell of Oklahoma City; Bruno Buccolo and Rhein Gibson of Oklahoma Christian; Drew Chuipek of St. Ambrose; Brandon Cissow of Lee; Sam Cyr of Point Loma; Jeff Dagg of Wayland Baptist and Stephen Ford of Marian. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network