Index of Sports Press Releases

June 1, 2009

Anderson announces 2009-10 DWU golf recruits

Adam Anderson

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men’s and women’s golf teams just wrapped up trips to the NAIA National Championships, but head coach Adam Anderson is already looking ahead to next season with the announcement of his 2009-10 recruiting class.

Anderson announced Monday that he has received Letters of Intent from four total golfers – two men and two women – to continue their careers at Dakota Wesleyan. Lincoln, Neb., native Travis Johnson and Aberdeen’s Levi Drube will both join the Tiger men’s team this fall, and Hot Springs’ Emilie Palo and Mitchell’s Chelsea Boddicker will both join the GPAC Champion DWU women’s squad.

“Overall, I am very pleased with this recruiting class,” Anderson said. “Each recruit brings talent, character and much experience to our team. We will continue to be a strong team in the GPAC and nationally within the NAIA by adding these quality student-athletes to our golf program.”

Johnson, a star at Lincoln Southeast High School, joins the Tigers after a decorated prep career. As a senior, he led the Knights to Class “A” State Championship while finishing in fourth place in Class “A” as an individual. The four-time letterwinner also had two other Top 15 finishes in his career to go along with three individual tournament titles. Johnson is the son of Dave and Nola Johnson and he is currently undecided on a major.

“Travis is one of the top 10 golfers in Nebraska this year,” Anderson said. “He is a highly-touted recruit and will make an immediate positive impact to our program.”

Drube was a two-time All-State and All-Conference performer during his six-year varsity career at Aberdeen Central High School. He finished third at state as a junior and13th as a senior while leading the Golden Eagles to third- and fourth-place finishes. The six-time letterwinner was a team captain and a CHS Honor Athlete. Drube is the son of Kurt and Sheri Drube and he is also undecided on a major. Drube was a high school teammate of current DWU All-GPAC golfer Andrew Farrand.

“Levi is a talented player who can shoot great scores at times,” Anderson said. “He should be able to contend for a top five spot on the varsity traveling team as a freshman.”

On the women’s side, Palo was a five-time letterwinner and a four-time state qualifier for Hot Springs High School. She won medalist honors at one tournament and placed seventh in the preconference standings. The honor roll student is the daughter of Gary and Mary Palo, and she plans to major in history and post-secondary education at Dakota Wesleyan.

“Emilie is a state meet qualifier who has further potential to be an outstanding golfer,” Anderson said. “She’s a hard worker and I’m excited to see how much she can improve over the next four years at DWU.”

Boddicker will give the Tigers a connection to the community after playing her high school golf for Mitchell High School. She was a three-year member of the Kernel varsity team, where she earned one varsity letter and spent one season in the starting lineup. The daughter of Vince and Brenda Boddicker of Mitchell, Boddicker is currently undecided on a major. She was a member of the Bronze Honor Roll at MHS.

“Chelsea is a local, experienced player, having played on the varsity for several years at MHS,” Anderson said. “She will contribute nicely and will fit in very well with our program.”

Anderson, the 2009 GPAC Women’s Golf Coach-of-the-Year, has led the women’s team to three GPAC titles and four trips to the National Championships and the men’s team to a GPAC title and a trip to nationals during his four years at DWU. Both Tiger teams spent most of the 2008-09 season ranked in the Top 25, and both are consistently one of the elite teams in the conference, region and nation.