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National Champion Rams earn five All-Americans

05.31.2019 | By:
Photo of the TXWES men's golf team with their 2019 national championship banner.

KANSAS CITY, MO - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2019 NAIA Men's Golf All-America teams, as selected by the NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Association All-America Committee. The list is highlighted by the 2019 NAIA Champion Rams' Tyron Davidowitz - who was named to the first team. The All-American announcements cap Texas Wesleyan's seventh national championship crown and their first since 1999.

The Rams earned a whopping five All-Americans - the most spots of any program in the country and the first time the entire Texas Wesleyan championship team made the All-Americans list. Rowan Lester scored the honor for the third year in a row (second team this season), joined by first-time recipients and teammates Futa Yamagishi (second team), Declan Kenny (third team) and Victor Miron (third team).

The Rams also claimed No. 1 in the final NAIA Coaches Poll, released May 31, knocking Coastal Georgia - who was previously No. 1 but finished second in the national tournament - off their perch.

Lester becomes the first golfer in the program to achieve three consecutive All-American nods since Armando Villarreal did it all four years of his career from 2008-2011 and has gone on to play professionally in tournaments all over the world. Miron led TXWES with a 290 four-round score at nationals this year, shooting a pair of 70s to start the tourney. 

The Rams have had a representative on the first team every year this decade. Davidowitz became the seventh Ram to make the distinguished list, joining Villarreal (2010, 2011), Nathan Anderson (2012-2013), Jose Rolz (2014-2015), David Ravetto (2016-2017), Leo Mathard (2016, 2018) and Lester (2017-2018).

Davidowitz was named the SAC's Golfer of the Week in mid-April, where he led Texas Wesleyan with a tie for fourth place in the Dalton State Roadrunner Classic on April 8-9 in Rocky Face, Ga. Davidowitz carded a 74-69-72–215 to secure a spot on the all-tournament team. At the time, he had accumulated a 73.71 scoring average and 22 birdies in seven rounds. He scored a 291 at nationals led by a 2-under, second round.

A total of 45 student-athletes were honored by the NAIA, with 15 individuals being named to each of the three teams.