McLean County Times

NORMAN, Okla. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's golf team received the Golf Coaches Association of America Presidents Special Mention status on Tuesday, July 30.

Harvard (NCAA Division I), Maryville (NCAA Division II), Kenyon (NCAA Division III), Keiser (NAIA), Western Texas (NJCAA Division I), Southwestern (IA) (NJCAA Division II), and Virginia Union (HBCU) were named 2023-24 Academic National Champions for achieving the highest GPA in their respective divisions.

Illinois Wesleyan reported a grade point average of 3.51 for the academic year. Jim Ott's squad was one of 43 Division III programs to earn team academic honors from the GCAA, with the Titans being one of 14 to receive President's Special Mention recognition.

Overall, IWU was among 43 Division III programs recognized with academic honors. The Green and White's distinction is reserved for teams with a GPA above 3.5, while 29 others received All-Academic Team status with a GPA above 3.0. IWU was one of two CCIW programs honored as North Central also received All-Academic status.

Illinois Wesleyan's academic success included Quinn Clifford (First Team), Bobby Beaubien (Second Team), and Griffin Pohl (Third Team) earning College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. Clifford, Beaubien, and Pohl, along with sophomores Juney Bai and Michael Spitzer, received GCAA Scholar All-America accolades last week. Additionally, 13 Titans were named Academic All-CCIW. Clifford received the CCIW's Elite 26 Award for having the highest GPA among those competing at the league championship, while Beaubien was designated as IWU's Jack Swartz Award recipient for the spring.