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BAY CITY, Mich. — Saginaw Valley State University senior Nate Kelly (Suttons Bay, Mich.) has earned the 2011 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) men’s golf “Athlete of the Year” award. He claimed the award by posting the lowest stroke average in a minimum of 12 rounds of competition during the fall and spring seasons. Grand Valley State University rookie Chris Cunningham (Milford, Mich.) took “Freshman of the Year” accolades by recording the lowest stroke average among GLIAC freshmen. Ferris State University’s Mike Mignano earned “Coach of the Year” honors in balloting conducted by the league’s men’s golf head coaches.

Kelly earns “Athlete of the Year” honors after a senior season in which he posted a 72.25 stroke average and four top-five finishes.   Included in those top-five finishes are individual medalist honors at the Lake Superior State University Invitational and the Kyle Ryman Invitational.  Kelly, an All-GLIAC Second Team selection in 2009-10 with a 73.60 average, had a runner-up finish at the Lake Erie Invitational and a third-place showing at the Arendsen Invitational.

Cunningham finished in the top-25 in seven of his nine outings this season for Grand Valley State. His 76.41 average score was the lowest stroke average among freshman in the conference. Cunningham’s best finish was a tie for second at the Northern Kentucky University Spring Classic (143, -1), coming just one week after a tie for fifth place at the Tusculum (Tenn.) Invitational (144, +2), where GVSU placed third. He finished in the top-22 in five other tournaments and tied for 18th place at the GLIAC Championship (229, +16) last October.

Mignano was tabbed as the GLIAC Men’s Golf “Coach of the Year” after leading the Bulldogs to the program’s 19th league crown last fall (Oct. 3-4) by virtue of a playoff victory.  The Bulldogs placed sixth or better in four fall tournaments this campaign and have a pair of top five tourney finishes to date this spring.  FSU earned its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this year under Mignano’s direction after registering a school-best seventh place finish in the 2010 NCAA-II National Championships (May 18-21) in Noblesville, Ind. He has guided Ferris State’s women’s team to its 10th-straight NCAA Tournament berth this year.

Joining Kelly on the 2011 All-GLIAC men’s golf first team are: junior Jay Overy (Grafton, Ohio) of Ashland University, senior Joe McGeean (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) of The University of Findlay, senior Steve Fedewa (Howell, Mich. /Howell/Lansing C.C.) of Wayne State University; junior Nick Gunthorpe (Lansing, Mich./Ovid Elsie) of Grand Valley State, and senior Kyle Wittenbach (Lowell, Mich.) of Ferris State.

A complete list of the 2011 All-GLIAC men’s golf teams is below: