Choi, Millican Lead Lobo Postseason Honor Parade
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Glen Millican, long-time head coach of The University of New Mexico men’s golf team, was honored today as the Mountain West Coach of the Year, and rookie Sam Choi was named the Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year, leading a parade of honors for the Lobos as the league announced its postseason awards.
Along with the Coach and Co-Freshman honors, Choi, senior Sean Carlon and sophomore Galven Green were also named to the 12-member all-conference team. UNM tied with UNLV for the most members of the team.
For Millican, it’s his fifth Mountain West Coach of the Year award, having also won the honor in 2002-03, 2004-05, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Millican helped guide to the Lobos to the program’s 24th conference title in school history, and seventh as a member of the Mountain West. The Lobos will be playing in their 21st NCAA Regional next weekend when the team heads to Louisville, Kentucky for the Louisville Regional.
For Choi, he is UNM’s first Freshman of the Year honoree since John Catlin in 2009-10, and he is the fourth Lobo overall to earn the honor, joining Charlie Beljan in 2003-04 and Michael Letzig in 1999-00. Choi, who shared the honor with Oscar Teiffel of Colorado State, had a 72.03 scoring average, second-best among all Mountain West freshmen. He also had three top-10 finishes on the season out of 11 tournaments. His best finish came in April at the Ping Cougar Classic, when he finished tied for third, shooting an 8-under 208.
Carlon, the lone upperclassman among the five Lobos that played in Tucson in winning the Mountain West title, shot a blistering 71.39 for the year over 33 rounds with four top-10 finishes. He lost in a playoff after shooting -13 at the OMNI National Course at the Mountain West Championships, and he also had top-10 finishes at the John Burns Intercollegiate (T-4th), the National Invitational Tournament (8th) and the Trinity Forest Invitational (T-10th). He has been on a wild tear since the calendar turned to 2019, shooting par or better in 14 of 18 rounds, including rounds of 67, 68 and 68 at the Mountain West Championships.
Green, a sophomore, leaped onto the conference stage last weekend with a -13 203 at the Mountain West Championships, and then winning the individual medalist honors over his teammate Sean Carlon on the third sudden death playoff hole. Green averaged 72.40 for the season over 33 rounds, with a pair of top-10 finishes, as he also was ninth at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.
The Lobos are back in action May 13-15 in Louisville at the University of Louisville Golf Club for the NCAA Regionals. The top five teams will qualify for the NCAA Championships May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
All-MW Team
Oscar Teiffel, Colorado State
Alex Lee, Fresno State
Joey Vrzich, Nevada
Sean Carlon, New Mexico
Sam Choi, New Mexico
Galven Green, New Mexico
Puwit Anupansuebsai, San Diego State
Kevin Velo, San José State
Sean Yu, San José State
Harry Hall, UNLV
David Rauch, UNLV
Jack Trent, UNLV
Player of the Year: Harry Hall, UNLV
Co-Freshman of the Year: Oscar Teiffel, Colorado State and Sam Choi, New Mexico
Coach of the Year: Glen Millican, New Mexico