Rochester, NY – The Empire 8 announced the men's golf award winners for the 2017-2018 season. St. John Fisher College's head coach Bob Simms has been voted the Empire 8 Men's Golf Coach of the Year by the coaches in the league. Sage's senior golfer Ryan Guyton (Lockport, NY/Lockport) was selected to the Men's Golf Sportsman of the Year Team.
A ten-time Coach of the Year recipient in the Empire 8, Simms guided Fisher to its eighth-straight conference crown. Fisher won the Conference Championship with a team score of 1,221, to finish 71 strokes ahead of the runner-up.
Under Simms' tutelage, the Cardinals placed second at the Mason-Dixon Collegiate Invite, took third in the Fisher Collegiate Invite and finished seventh at the Williams College Fall Invite. Fisher also earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship field and finished 18th overall.
Simms oversaw the development of four all-conference players, including Nicholas Calabrese who was named the E8 Player of the Year and a Srixon/Cleveland Scholar All-American and Colin McGaugh who was named to the Ping All-Region team.
A newcomer to the golf team at Sage this year, Guyton helped the Gators over the course of the year and was an important member of the team helping the squad to a number of strong showings throughout the year. Named the Gator of the Year in men's volleyball, Guyton wrapped his volleyball career in 2018 with a selection to the 2018 Empire 8 Men's Volleyball Honorable Mention Team.
Guyton was a four-year letterwinner in men's volleyball and also served as a team captain for three years. He holds Sage's career records for most points (1,409.0), most kills (1,117), most aces (197), while playing in a record 119 matches. He also added 527 digs, good enough for seventh on the career list. On the 2018 season, Guyton led the team with his 331.5 points and 273 kills. He was also tops on the team this season with his 43 aces.
In addition to Simms' honor, one member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2017-18 Men's Golf Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
All-Sportsman Team
Canton - Matthew Russell
Elmira: Charl Pretorius
Nazareth: Daniel Jacob
Oswego: Sean Paul Owen
Sage: Ryan Guyton
SJFC: Chris Carter Fritch
Stevens: Jack Doherty
Potsdam: Dylan Murphy
Utica: Christopher Netto