Bachert and Morris prove themselves at NCAA Golf Championships

RELEASED: May 21, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—Women's golfer Emily Bachert and men's golfer Chris Morris raked in the post-season awards on the heels of their high-ranking finishes at the NCAA Golf Championships held in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., on May 13-16

Bachert, a first-year student from Bowling Green, Ky., finished fourth in the country at the 2009 NCAA Women's Golf Championships. She spent most of the year, and finished, ranked in the number-one spot by Golfstat.com for lowest NCAA Division III scoring average in the country. Bachert also finished the season ranked in the number two spot by Golfstat.com for her head-to-head play.

Due to her amazing freshman campaign she was named a First Team All-Region golfer as well as a First Team All-American golfer by the NCAA. Even more impressive, she earned the NCAA Division III honor of Freshman of the Year. This is believed to be the first time any athlete at Centre has garnered the Freshman of the Year award in any sport.

"When Emily decided to attend Centre, I knew things like this would happen—when and how were the only questions," says head golf coach Brian Chafin. "She has an incredible amount of talent and a desire to improve even more.

"Credit needs to go to swing coach Bruce Brown and assistant coach Tom Campbell who played a good part in Emily's development this year," Chafin adds. "In my opinion, fourth place will not be the highest finish in an NCAA Championship for Emily. She has the potential to move all the way to the top of the list with hard work and a little good fortune."

Morris, a sophomore from Maysville, Ky., finished the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship in 22nd place, and also received several post-season honors based on his 2008-09 season performance. He was ranked as high as number one in the country in Division III by Golfstat.com for lowest scoring average and had a final head-to-head ranking by Gofstat.com of seventh.

With his impressive performance throughout the year and his strong finish at the NCAA Championships, Morris earned First Team All-Region and Third Team All-American honors from the NCAA.

"Chris has set very high goals and expectations for himself as a golfer," says Chafin. "He wants to win the National championship, which sometimes puts undo pressure on him. He's one of the finest Division III golfers in the country and I won't be surprised if he achieves his goal some day."

Chafin goes on to add, "We have several people who support the program very well and enable us to do things right for the players. Both Emily and Chris sport a grade point average over 3.5, and at Centre the number-one priority is still in the classroom for all our athletes."

The participation of Bachert and Morris in the NCAA Championships is record setting in another way: They give Chafin a record of participation in NCAA Championships, that is rare if not unique. He has, as a participant or coach, been involved in NCAA Championships in five different sports:

1972: Played in NCAA Championships as a member and captain of the Ithaca College men's basketball team

1980 and 1988: Took Clarkson University men's soccer to NCAA Championships

1989: Took Clarkson University's women's basketball team to NCAA Final Four hosted at Centre College

1997, 1998, 1999: Took Centre College men's soccer team to NCAA Championships

2009: Emily Bachert invited to NCAA women's golf championships

2009: Chris Morris invited to NCAA men's golf championships

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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