Player and Coach of the Year Honors Headline Four All-CCC Accolades

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- For the second straight season, both Austin Teal (Loudonville, N.Y.) and Tom Smith were named Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. The pair led the way for four total All-CCC accolades as announced by the Office of the Commissioner on Thursday.

In addition to Player of the Year honors, Teal also garnered All-CCC First Team distinction. Joining the New York native on the First Team was sophomore Drew Benshoff (Concord, Mass.) who has now earned All-CCC honors in each of his two seasons at Endicott. Junior Dan Negus (Pembroke, Mass.) completed the honors for the Gulls, earning an All-CCC Second Team nod for his performance in the 2015-16 campaign.

Teal's honors caps arguably the most decorated individual career in Endicott history with his second Player of the Year nod. Teal's 2015-16 campaign featured nine top-10 finishes, seven of which were top-five. His medalist honor at the CCC Championship was the second straight season he had claimed the title. Having also earned All-CCC First Team honors for the past three years, Teal was named NCAA DIII PING All-American Honorable Mention in 2014 following his ninth place finish at the NCAA DIII Championship.

In his fifth season at the helm, head coach Tom Smith led the team to one first place finish and three runner-up finishes on the season while finishing top 10 in all 13 events on the year. Smith was named CCC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season.  Under his guidance, the team has won three CCC titles in the past five years, finishing as runner-up in the last two. The Gulls have placed seven players on All-CCC teams in the past two years.  

For Benshoff, the sophomore has quickly become one of the most reliable golfers on the team as he earned his first All-CCC First Team nod following Second Team honors as a freshman. Having posted six top-10 finishes on the year which included a low round score of 73 in the Duke Nelson Invitational at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course.

Negus has earned his second straight All-CCC Second Team nod after finishing tied for 12th at the CCC Championship. On the season, Negus recorded four top-15 finishes including a fourth place finish at the CCC Championship Qualifier with a round of 77. His low round of 76 came at the ECAC DIII New England Championship.