(Editor's note: MSUB Athletics release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – Being recognized for a standout senior campaign, Montana State University Billings men’s golf senior Riley Lawrence earned second-team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
Lawrence led the team and ranked 10th in the conference with a scoring average of 74.8 strokes per round this year, which was the 14th-best single-season mark in program history. “Riley really put together a strong last season as a ‘Jacket,” said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. “He made every top five travel team and carried a 74.8 scoring average. Last summer, things really started clicking for him as he played very well in the with a third-place showing in the Montana State AM 71-67-65, third place at the Whitefish Fourth of July 68-71-67, and a win at the Butte Labor Day Classic 72-72-71. That momentum carried over into our season as he finished fourth at the very first event at South Dakota Mines. He was consistent all year and posted four more top 25 finishes. Riley also became a leader on and off the course as someone we could count on when we needed it.”
Lawrence recorded a pair of top-10 finishes for the Yellowjackets, and made par or better in seven of the 24 rounds that he competed in. His top performance came at the RJGA Palm Valley Classic, where he carded a career-best three-round score of 215 and placed 16th among a field of 98 competitors. Lawrence followed that by shooting a career-low 3-under-par 68 in Round 2 at the 2022 GNAC Championships on his way to a tie for 12th place.
In his three seasons as a Yellowjacket, Lawrence posted a career scoring average of 76.38 strokes per round, which ranked 13th in school history. The Helena native competed in 18 events and 48 total rounds, while notching four top-10 finishes and seven rounds of even-par or better.
Aidan Thain of Western Washington was named the GNAC Player of the Year, WWU’s Seth King was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, and Viking head coach Luke Bennett was tabbed the GNAC Coach of the Year. Bailey Bjornson of Simon Fraser University was selected as the GNAC Freshman of the Year.
