Fresno State Athletics
Nick Watney Wins Joe Kearney Award
7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 1, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State senior golfer Nick Watney earned the top athletic award given by the Western Athletic Conference today, as he was named the winner of the 2002-03 Joe Kearney Award, given annually to the best athlete in the WAC.
Watney joins Hawai'i's junior, two-time All-America selection, Kim Willoughby as the recipients of the 2002-03 Kearney Award for the Western Athletic Conference. Named in honor of former WAC commissioner Joe Kearney, the awards are given annually to the top male and female WAC athlete. The WAC Athletics Directors select the male award winner, and the WAC Senior Woman Administrators choose the female honoree.
It marked the second straight year and the third time in four years a Fresno State male athlete has won the award. Former Bulldog All-American David Carr won the award last season and basketball player Courtney Alexander won the award in 2000. In 2000, the Bulldogs swept the award as softball player Amanda Scott was named the female award winner. Watney is the first male golfer to ever win the Kearney Award.
Watney, a senior from Dixon, Calif., is a history major at Fresno State. In the fall of 2002, Watney finished as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the nation by both the Golfstat Cup standings and GolfWeek/Sagarin ratings with a 69.07 stroke average. He opened the season with four straight wins and propelled the Bulldogs to a tournament win at the Fresno State Lexus Classic.
Watney followed his record-breaking fall, resetting his own school single-season stroke average at 69.93 in the spring. The mark is the fifth-lowest season stroke average in NCAA Division I history. The All-American picked up another tournament win, crushing the course record at the Bite/Pacific Coast Intercollegiate by 10 strokes firing a three-day 199. Watney helped the Bulldogs win the 2003 WAC title, earning the WAC Golfer of the Year award for the third straight time, the first WAC golfer do so.
"Simply put, Nick Watney is the best college golfer in WAC history," said Scott Johnson, Fresno State's Athletics Director. "He's one of the most dominating athletes in any sport in Fresno State history. Nick shattered all WAC and Fresno State records and both the conference and out school have very good traditions in the sport. Nick's impressive accomplishments don't even compare to the first-class way he carried himself as a student-athlete."
Willoughby, a junior from Napoleonville, La., led the Rainbow Wahine to the National Semifinals of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Hawai'i fell to Stanford, 3-0, finishing the season ranked third in the nation by the AVCA. Willoughby picked up a number of accolades for her play in 2002 including her second straight WAC Player of the Year honor. The Louisiana native was named an AVCA first-team All-America selection along with being named to the NCAA Championship all-Tournament team.
She broke her own school and conference record in 2002, posting 38 kills in a four-game match against Washington (Sept. 7). Willoughby led the WAC and was second in the nation in kills per game with 6.31, service aces (76) and was third with a hitting percentage of 3.42. The six foot senior also found time to excel in basketball for the Wahine, being named to the all-WAC tournament team in 2002 and finishing second in the conference as an 82% free throw shooter.
2002-03 Joe Kearney Award Nominees
Men, School-Sport
Brock Forsey, Boise State-Football
Nick Watney, Fresno State-Golf
Vince Manuwai, Hawai'i-Football
Antonio Meeking, Louisiana Tech-Basketball
Nate Burleson, Nevada-Football
Richard and William Barker, Tennis-Rice
Charles Pauley, San Jose State-Football
Quinton Ross, SMU-Basketball
Dan Swanson, UTEP-Golf
David Inglis, Tulsa-Golf
Women, School-Sport
Trina Rogers, Boise State-Track and Field
Java Johnson, Fresno State-VB/Basketball
Kim Willoughby, Hawai'i-Volleyball/Basketball
Cheryl Ford, Louisiana Tech-Basketball
Michelle More, Nevada-Volleyball
Allison Beckford, Rice-Track and Field
Cricket Williams, San Jose State-Basketball
Georgina Lee, SMU-Swimming and Diving
Holly Cohen, UTEP-Soccer
Allison Curtin, Tulsa-Basketball
Previous Kearney Award Winners
Year...Men/Women, School-Sport
2002-03
Nick Watney, Fresno State-Golf
Kim Willoughby, Hawai'i-Volleyball/Basketball
2001-02
David Carr, Fresno State-Football
Stacy Prammanasudh, Tulsa-Golf
2000-01
LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU-Football
Florence Ezeh, SMU-Track and Field
1999-00
Courtney Alexander, Fresno State-BB
Amanda Scott, Fresno State-Softball
1998-99
Andre Miller, Utah-Basketball
Martina Moravcova, SMU-Swimming
1997-98
Lars Frolander, SMU-Swimming
Amanda Scott, Fresno State-Softball
1996-97
Keith Van Horn, Utah-Basketball
Martina Moravcova, SMU-Swimming
1995-96
Keith Van Horn, Utah-Basketball
Nina Lindenberg, Fresno State-Softball
1994-95
Stoney Case, New Mexico-Football
Suzanne Metz, Utah-Gymnastics
1993-94
Marshall Faulk, San Diego State-Football
Amy Van Dyken, Colorado State-Swimming
1992-93
Marshall Faulk, San Diego State-Football
Mikki Kane-Barton, Utah-Basketball/Volleyball
1991-92
Carlton McDonald, Air Force-Football
Anu Kalijurand, Brigham Young
