CLEVELAND, OH -- Kenyon junior Jonathan Oakes (Tarrytown, NY/US Performance Academy) claimed his second-consecutive Dick Gordin award as the league’s overall Player of the Year, while Wabash first-year Leo Dellinger (Monticello, IN/Twin Lakes) was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year to highlight the 2026 All-NCAC men’s golf team.
Oakes earns Kenyon its sixth overall Player of the Year award. The junior collects his third all-conference certificate after earning back-to-back first-team selections this season following a third-team nod in 2024 with a top-15 finish at the NCAC Championship. The 2024 NCAC Newcomer of the Year recorded three top-10 finishes this season, highlighted by a third-place showing at the 2026 NCAC Championship with a 221 total. Oakes opened the tournament with a 77 before shooting a 76 in the second round and the lowest round of the championship, a 68, in the final round. The junior is currently the highest-ranked golfer in the NCAC, sitting No. 6 in Region V and No. 38 nationally in Division III. Oakes owns a 71.6 scoring average.
Dellinger, who collected All-NCAC third-team honors in his first season of collegiate golf, was named the NCAC Newcomer of the Year, becoming the first Wabash men’s golfer to earn the award. Dellinger recorded five top-six finishes this season, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Transylvania Fall Invite after shooting an even-par 216 (75-71-70). The first-year currently ranks 11th among NCAC golfers and sits No. 33 in Region V and No. 184 nationally in Division III. Dellinger owns a 74.2 scoring average.
Joining Oakes on the first team were John Carroll juniors Wade Boyle (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Central Catholic) and Justy VonLehmden (Findlay, OH/Saint John’s Jesuit), Kenyon sophomore Connor Gray (Winnetka, IL/New Trier) and Wittenberg sophomore Mikey Schutte (Cincinnati, OH/Elder).
Finally, John Carroll earned the 2026 NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year honor. Head coach Jeff Pawlowski, who is in his second season at the helm of the program, along with assistant coach Derek Smith, guided the Blue Streaks to their first NCAC Championship title in the program’s first season of conference competition. John Carroll collected six team victories and one runner-up finish this season. During the regular season, the Blue Streaks earned wins at Denison’s Ted Barclay Invitational, Mount Union’s Fall Invite, Wittenberg’s Jeff Roope Invite, Rochester’s Fred B. Kravetz Invite and their own Caschera DiCillo Classic. At the NCAC Championship, the Blue Streaks recorded a 54-hole score of 898 (299-299-300). As conference champions, John Carroll earned the league’s automatic bid into the 2026 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships, which will be contested May 12-15 at Mission Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.