2006-07 NIU MEN’S GOLF 1 MATT TRIPLETT MATT ZACH JECKLIN ZACH COACH JOHN CLEARY COACH NIU QUICK FACTS MEDIA RELATIONS Location ................................. DeKalb, Ill. Associate AD ......................Donna Turner Founded ..........................................1895 Offi ce Phone: 815.753.9513 Enrollment ....................................25,208 E-Mail: [email protected] Nickname ....................................Huskies Assistant Director ................David Brauer Colors ............................. Cardinal & Black Offi ce Phone: 815.753.3706 President ............................... John Peters E-Mail: [email protected] Associate Vice President/ Assistant Director Director of Athletics .................Jim Phillips (Men’s Golf Contact) ...........Matt Brendich Conference ......................... Mid-American Phone: 815.753.9538 Home Course ..............Rich Harvest Farms E-Mail: [email protected] Par ....................................................72 Assistant Director ...............Joe Summins Yardage ..........................................7,656 Phone: 815.753.9539 Slope .................................................153 E-Mail: [email protected] Rating ..............................................78.5 Graduate Assistant ..................Matt Stiles Web Site .................. www.niuhuskies.com Phone: 815.753.1708 E-Mail: [email protected] 2006 MAC Championships Finish ........ 6th NIU Media Relations Mailing Address Letterwinners Returning/Lost ............. 2/5 209 Convocation Center Men’s Golf Offi ce Phone ...... 815.753.1816 1525 W. Lincoln Highway Men’s Golf E-Mail [email protected] DeKalb, IL 60115 Men’s Golf Fax.................... 815.753.7700 COVERING THE HUSKIES To arrange interviews with Huskie student-athletes or coaches, contact Matt Head Coach .......................... John Cleary Brendich in the NIU Media Relations Offi ce. Alma Mater, Year .....................Kansas ‘91 Please provide 24 hours advance notice. Assistant Coach .............. Chuck Scheinost We will arrange for the student-athlete Alma Mater, Year .................. Hastings ‘04 or coach to contact you, or arrange for Student Manager ........................Joe Mills CREDITS: The 2007 Northern Illinois Uni- the in-person interview. Student-athlete Athletic Trainer ...................... Phil Voorhis versity Men’s Golf Media Guide is a publica- phone numbers will NOT be provided. Sport Administrator ............Tim McMurray tion of the Northern Illinois University Media Also contact Brendich to arrange for Relations Offi ce. It is designed to assist the media in its coverage of the Huskie men’s credentials to cover the NCAA Men’s Golf golf program. Editor: Matt Brendich; Cover: Central Regional at Rich Harvest Farms, in Matt Brendich; Contributors: Luke Anderson, Sugar Grove, Illinois. David Brauer, Joe Summins, Donna Turner. The latest results and information on Photography: NIU Media Imaging (Jay Orbik, all Huskie sports programs are always Scott Walstrom, George Tarbay, Don Butler, Wade Duerkes, Gordon Means, Barry Stark, available on-line at www.niuhuskies.com. Keith Lowman, and Don Banke). 2 2006-07 NIU MEN’S GOLF 2006-07 NIU MEN’S GOLF 3 HEAD COACH JOHN CLEARY Now in his fi fth year as the Northern Just the second head coach in the Illinois head men’s golf coach, John Cleary 50-year history of the program, Cleary’s has assembled a talented squad that he impact was felt immediately in his fi rst feels can compete with the best that the season of 2002-03. During that initial Mid-American Conference can offer. campaign, the Glenview native helped Aiding the Huskies’ cause is the return of lower Northern Illinois’ scoring average 2006 All Mid-American Conference Tourna- by more than eight strokes. The Huskies ment selection Zach Jecklin. Jecklin and posted top-ten fi nishes in seven of their former teammate and All-MAC selection ten tournaments and came home with Nick Schenk played a crucial part in help- titles from the Bradley Fall Classic and the ing NIU to its best conference fi nish in nine Illinois State Intercollegiate. years as the Huskies placed sixth overall at A 1991 graduate of the University of the 2006 MAC Tournament. Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in person- Jecklin placed fourth overall at the nel administration, Cleary, 39, began work- season-ending meet and fi gures to play a ing at the Glen View Club under NIU golf key role in the Huskies’ success in 2007. A alum Bob Dickman. talented freshmen recruiting class coupled His coaching career began in 1997 as with the return of sophomore Alex Wagner an assistant coach for the Loyola (Ill.) camps. and redshirt freshman Matt Triplett will men’s and women’s teams. He started his Not only is Cleary proving to be a coach- help make this team a force to be reck- association with Northwestern University ing prodigy, but he has shown to be an apt oned with. fi rst as an assistant women’s golf coach. In student of the game. Cleary’s squad is as adept in the his three seasons with the Wildcat women, He has been a Professional Golfers’ As- classroom as they are on the course, as Cleary’s teams scored a runner-up fi nish sociation (PGA) Class A-8 member for the the Huskies totaled a 3.28 grade point in the Big Ten Conference Championships past 15 years. He was named the 1998 average following the Fall ’06 semester. (2001) after the Wildcats garnered their Illinois PGA Assistant Professional of the Following the 2006 campaign, both Schenk fi rst NCAA Championships berth (2000). In Year and in October 2000 was elected to a and Ethan Roush earned Cleveland Golf 2001-02, Cleary moved over to take on the second term on the Illinois PGA’s Board of All-America Scholars squad for the second- assistant role for the Northwestern men’s Directors. straight season. Schenk was a three-time golf team, and the Cats appeared in the In addition to his work with the Illinois Academic All-MAC selection, while Jecklin NCAA Central Regional that season. PGA, Cleary also has a competitive game. earned Academic All-MAC honors as a While in Evanston, Cleary had two major Six years ago, he played in the PGA Tour’s sophomore in 2006 projects. First was assisting with the coor- Advil Western Open at Cog Hill Golf Club In 2004, Cleary mentored senior Joe dination of the Windon Memorial Classic, in Lemont, after fi nishing in second place True to a runner-up fi nish at the MAC Tour- a tournament which each year showcases at the Illinois PGA Championship. He has nament, marking the highest individual the best talents in collegiate golf, with been a three-time member of the Illinois fi nish for an NIU golfer at the MAC Tourna- past tournaments including Stanford alums PGA’s Royal Cup team and a three-year ment since 1978. Casey Martin and Tiger Woods. Cleary representative on the state’s Radix Cup was also the director of the Wildcats’ golf squad. JOHN CLEARY’S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS • Has led the Huskies to four team titles in the last four seasons. • Coached Joe True to a runner-up fi nish at the 2004 Mid-American Confer- ence Tournament. • Has coached fi ve Academic All MAC selections in four seasons. • Saw both Ethan Roush and Nick Schenk receive Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar honors as both juniors and seniors. • Participant in 2000 PGA Tour Advil Western Open. • Three-year representative for the Illinois PGA Radix Cup team. • PGA Class A-8 Member for past 15 years. • Served as an assistant coach for the Northwestern women’s golf team that reached the 1999 NCAA Championships. • Was an assistant coach for the Northwestern men’s golf team that ad- vanced to the NCAA Central Regional Championship in 2002. • Runner-up in the 2000 Illinois PGA Championships. 4 2006-07 NIU MEN’S GOLF ASSISTANT COACH CHUCK SCHEINOST A veteran of the collegiate coaching 2002-03 season, while serving as a stu- profession and a four-year letterwinner at dent athletic trainer for the football and Hastings College, Chuck Scheinost enters basketball programs during his junior and his second season as an assistant coach senior campaigns. for John Cleary and the NIU men’s golf A media production major with a minor program. in athletic training/coaching, Scheinost Scheinost’s rookie season with the earned a pair of Golden Leaf Awards from Huskies proved to be a successful one, as the Nebraska Collegiate Media Associa- he helped mentor Nick Schenk to an All tion for Best Television News Feature and Mid-American Conference selection and Best Television Sports Reporting. The Zach Jecklin to the MAC All-Tournament Fort Collins, Colorado, native also earned team, en route to NIU’s sixth-place fi nish two Golden Leaf Awards in 2001 as well. at the season-ending tourney, their high- Scheinost recently completed his Masters est fi nish in nine years. degree in Sports Management at NIU in A four-year starter on the collegiate December of 2006. level, Scheinost proved to be much more “Chuck Scheinost brings a strong back- than a standout on the links, earning Aca- ground both as a player and as a coach, Patton and Lady Bear invitationals, while demic All-America recognition during the and has the ability to help our program in assisting in the organization of three a variety of ways with his athletic train- other events. ing and video production experience,” However, it’s not just at the collegiate Cleary said. “He knows what it takes to level where Scheinost has built his coach- be a successful student-athlete and has ing rèsumè. The assistant director of the exhibited that both in the classroom and Payne Stewart Memorial / First Tee of the in competition.” Ozarks at Kids Across America Camps Prior to his arrival in DeKalb, Scheinost during Summer 2005, the 25-year-old spent one year as an assistant coach aided with the planning and development at Lenoir-Rhyne College, helping both of various golf activities geared toward the men’s and women’s programs. In promoting the game of golf to inner-city that one season, Scheinost tutored fi ve youth.