Easton, Sargent Named to All-Conference USA First Team

DALLAS — WKU seniors Stuart Easton and Billy Tom Sargent were each named to the All-Conference Men's Golf First Team on Friday, the league announced.

This is the first time the Hilltoppers have had multiple all-conference selections since Brent Long and Justin Perry in 2008 in the Sun Belt Conference.

The only other All-C-USA selection in the history of the program was Sargent on the second team last year. Before that, it had been 2010 since the Hilltoppers received an all-league honor.

WKU is the only team in C-USA with two first-team selections this year.

Easton and Sargent both earned at-large bids to NCAA Regionals this week, marking the first time that the program has ever had multiple Hilltoppers competing in the NCAAs as individuals in the same season.

Sargent leads the Hilltoppers with a 71.5 stroke average, which would be the lowest single-season mark in the program since at least 1994.

The Georgetown, Ky., native has seven top-20 performances in 10 events this season, including four top-10s, three top-5s and two victories.

Sargent's most recent win at Vanderbilt's prestigious Mason Rudolph Championship tied the program record for career individual victories at five.

His 201 total for the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history – one stroke behind Long's 200 at the 2008 UTSA Roadrunner Intercollegiate. Sargent finished ahead of 12 top-100 golfers in the Vandy tournament, including six in the top 35 and three in the top 25.

Easton is second on the team with a stroke average of 72.0, which would rank third in a season by a Hilltopper since 1994.

After missing the first two events of the season while representing his native Scotland in international play, Easton tallied five top-20 efforts in eight outings, including four top-10s and two top-5s, including back-to-back finishes in the top four at the Pinetree Intercollegiate and Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate.

He tied for seventh in Georgia's historic Southern Intercollegiates, and then both he and Sargent tied for 10th in the C-USA Championship.

Middle Tennessee's Marcus Byrd was named C-USA Player of the Year, while Louisiana Tech's James Swash was chosen as Freshman of the Year.

Middle Tennessee's Mark McEntire was named the Phillip Hatchett Coach of the Year. The league's coaches voted this year to rename the award after the former Hilltopper coach and player Hatchett, who passed away in June.

All-Conference USA First Team
John Gough, Charlotte
Marcus Byrd, Middle Tennessee
Jake Benson, Rice (receives first-team selection as individual champion)
William Walker III, UAB
Billy Tom Sargent, WKU
Stuart Easton, WKU

All-Conference USA Second Team
Viktor Forslund, North Texas
Cooper Sears, Middle Tennessee
Tanner Owens, Middle Tennessee
Aaron Terrazas, UTEP
Sean Meehan, UTSA

All-Freshman Team
Ben Woodruff, Charlotte
James Swash, Louisiana Tech
Lenny Bergsson, North Texas
John Snoddy, UAB
Christian Fanfelle, UTSA

Player of the Year
Marcus Byrd, Middle Tennessee

Freshman of the Year
James Swash, Louisiana Tech

Phillip Hatchett Coach of the Year
Mark McEntire, Middle Tennessee

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Players Mentioned

Stuart Easton

Billy Tom Sargent

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