University Park, Pa.; May 1, 2007 ¨C Two Nittany Lion golfers were named All-Conference honorees today by the Big Ten Conference. Penn State junior Robert Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) was named a first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection while freshman Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year, a second-team All-Big Ten Conference selection and a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.
Rohanna and Foley are the sixth and seventh All-Big Ten Conference Team selections in Penn State men¡¯s golf history and first since Mark Leon in 2004-05. Rohanna, who was named the Big Ten Men¡¯s Co-Golfer of the Week on April 11, has won two tournaments this year. He earned medallist honors at the Georgetown Hoya Invitational in the fall and at the Marshall Intercollegiate in the spring.
Rohanna tied for fourth place at last weekend¡¯s Big Ten Championships. Rohanna, the only player in the field to shoot under par in the second round, carded rounds of 75-70-76-74 (295). He recorded seven top-10 finishes this year and finished second in the Big Ten Conference in lowest season-stroke average at 72.40.
¡°To be named to the All-Conference team is an outstanding accomplishment,¡± head coach Greg Nye said. ¡°Going into the Georgetown Invitational, I told Robert ¡®it¡¯s about time you win a tournament,¡¯ and he ended up winning. Ever since that tournament he¡¯s played with great confidence. He has performed at a high level week-after-week.¡±
Foley is Penn State¡¯s second Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year; Dirk Ayers won the award in 1992-93. Foley¡¯s best finish came at the Marshall Intercollegiate where he tied for second at four-under par after shooting rounds of 68 and 70 (138). He notched five top-10 finishes in his first season at the collegiate level. Foley finished the season rated 12th in the Big Ten by Golfweek/Sagarin, having compiled a 159-62-6 record against conference opponents.
¡°There were six of seven strong candidates for the honor,¡± Nye said. ¡°For Kevin to play at the level he did, against the top players in the conference, shows the type of player he is. He has an extremely sound approach to the game.¡±
Foley was also Penn State¡¯s selection for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The conference chooses 11 student-athletes ¨C one from each school ¨C who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Foley and the 10 other selections are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each school at the end of the school year.
Foley demonstrated tremendous sportsmanship at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. On his first hole, Foley addressed his ball on the green. When he grounded his putter to putt the ball, the ball moved one dimple. He immediately reported the movement of the ball and was assessed two penalty strokes: one for the ball movement and another for not replacing the ball.
¡°Every member of our golf team demonstrates great sportsmanship,¡± Nye said. ¡°But, the sportsmanship Kevin practiced on the first green at the Big Ten Championships was remarkable.¡±
Rohanna, Foley and the Nittany Lions will return to the links this weekend, as Penn State hosts the Rutherford Intercollegiate. The event, featuring 12 teams from the eastern part of the country, will be held May 5-6 at the 7,228-yard, par-72 Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
