Bools Leads ECU's Honors Haul

East Carolina sophomore Abby Bools has been named Conference USA Player of the Year honors as selected by the conference’s head coaches.

Bools was also joined on the C-USA All-Conference first team by teammates Emilie Lind and Amber Littman, who also earned C-USA Freshman of the Year honors. Pirates coach Kevin Williams was named Coach of the Year after leading ECU to wins in six of its seven regular-season tournaments and a second-place finish at the C-USA Championship.

Bools entered the C-USA Championship with a 74.67 stroke average (down from 77.96 in 2007) and captured two wins and four top-five finishes this spring. She was named C-USA Golfer of the Week two times in 2007-08 and was one of three Pirate golfers to record two medalist honors in the same season. She carded a personal-best round of 68 at the Myrtle Beach Classic earlier this year, which was the third-lowest round in school history.

Littman had a stroke average of 74.39 entering the C-USA Championship and finished tied for seventh in the individual standings. Littman was a two-time C-USA Golfer of the Week selection in 2007-08. She closed out the fall season by claiming individual medalist honors at the UAB Beach Bash. She had three top-three finishes this season.

BLUE DEVIL HONORED: Duke senior Michael Schachner earned Golf World Player of the Week honors after winning the River Landing Intercollegiate in Wallace on April 12.

In a head-to-head matchup with Wake Forest's Webb Simpson, Schachner overcame a two-stroke deficit to force a playoff for the individual crown.

On the first playoff hole, he sank a 40-foot birdie putt to claim his first outright championship on the season. Schachner tied for the individual title at the SunTrust Gator Invitational (Feb. 9-10).

Schachner shot 68-72-69 to lead the Blue Devils to their second team title of the season. Duke claimed a share of the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic in the fall, finishing tied for first with Tennessee-Chattanooga.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: East Carolina teammates Tripp Brizendine and Markus Leandersson were among the six student-athletes to make up the 2008 Conference USA All-Academic Men's Golf Team, as selected by the sports information directors for golf.

The all-academic team for men's golf consists of student-athletes that have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and played in 75 percent or more of their team's rounds this season.

Brizendine, who played at Green Hope High, and Leandersson both registered three top-10 finishes for the Pirates this season. The pair are also two-time selections to the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll and C-USA Academic Medal winners.

Brizendine carries a 3.77 GPA as an economics major, with a 4.0 during the fall semester. The sophomore was a member of the 2007 C-USA All-Freshman Team, as well as the NCAA Division I National Golf Coaches All-American Scholar Team.

THE RIGHT FIT: FootJoy introduces its new FJ SuperLites, a new category of men’s golf shoes. They are developed to be the lightest category of shoes in FootJoy’s lineup. The suggested retail is $90 and will be available this month.

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