Hampden-Sydney's O'Connell Headlines ODAC Men's Golf Awards

H-SC's Main, GC's Gross and Shedd, R-MC's Bradshaw Honored

FOREST, Va. --- Hampden-Sydney College and Guilford College each took home a pair of major honors as part of the 2014 All-ODAC Men's Golf awards as announced at the ODAC Golf Championships at Rock Barn Golf & Spa this weekend.  The Tigers' Rick O'Connell was tabbed the ODAC Player of the Year, while mentor Mac Main was named the Jack Jensen Coach of the Year.  GC's Tanner Gross earned ODAC Rookie of the Year accolades, while teammate Nick Shedd received his second ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award.  Randolph-Macon College's Bobby Bradshaw picked up the Ted Keller Sportsmanship Award.

O'Connell, a senior from Goochland, Va., put together a strong season leading into the ODAC Tournament as he is currently ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III individual ratings by Golfstat (www.golfstat.com), the highest ranking of any ODAC golfer.  He's second in the conference with a 73.1 per round average.  He competed in eight regular season events, finishing in the top-10 five times with a trio of top five showings and one win at the Ted Keller Memorial in October.  He posted a pair of sub-70 rounds at the Ted Keller to win the event.  His best round of the season was a 67 in round two at the Camp LeJeune Intercollegiate, which also marked his last 18 holes coming into the ODAC Tournament.

Main, in his second season guiding the Tigers, led his squad to the second-lowest team average in the conference at 300.6, just 1.2 strokes short of Guilford.  He's coached a pair of Tigers to the top-10 by Golfstat, with O'Connell and Brian Burt ranking ninth and tenth, respectively.  H-SC is currently rated #20 in the Golfstat team rankings and #21 in the GolfWorld/Nike Golf Division III Coaches' Poll.  The Tigers finished atop the leaderboard in three events this season, winning the Tom Kinder Memorial, Virginia State Intercollegiate, and Ted Keller Memorial.

Gross, a freshman from Archdale, N.C., put together a stellar first season in Greensboro that saw him posting a 74.4 regular season average, which ranks third in the ODAC.  He's currently rated 13th in the country by Golfstat.  Gross competed in 10 events this season with seven top-10 and four top-5 showings.  His best finishes were at the Pine Needles Intercollegiate and Emory Spring Invitational, where he placed third both times.  His season-low round of 69 came over the second 18 holes at Camp LeJeune.  To cap the regular season, his 73 was the best score of 12 players in a duel match against Greensboro College.

Shedd, a junior from Williamsburg, Va., adds this award to the ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award he earned in 2013.  In the classroom, Shedd maintains a 3.79 grade point average as a Business Management major.  He's a two-time honoree on the ODAC All-Academic Team as well as the Guilford Student-Athlete Honor Roll.  He's a five-time Guilford Dean's List honoree and was the Quakers' representative on the ODAC/StellarOne Sportsmanship Team in 2013.  On the course, Shedd is now a back-to-back All-ODAC First Team player.  This season, he competed in seven events with three top-10's and the first two collegiate victories of his career.  He won those in consecutive events as he claimed the individual medalist at the O'Briant-Jensen Memorial and the Pine Needles Intercollegiate.  His 76.0 per round average is tied for eighth in the ODAC.

The Ted Keller Sportsmanship Award is named after former Randolph-Macon College head coach Ted Keller.  Each team nominates a player for the sportsmanship award, with the coaches determining one to win the award. Bradshaw was this season's honoree.  A junior from Springfield, Va., Bradshaw competed in seven events this season and posted one top-five showing.  That came at the Marlin Invitational, where he placed fifth overall.  He entered ODAC Tournament play with an 81.6 per round average.

For more information, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow the ODAC on Twitter at @odacathletics.