Athletics: Chris Riley Named Men's Golf WCC Coach of the Year

Craig Ronne and Andi Xu earned all-conference honors after Toreros captured WCC Championship over the weekend

San Diego golf's Chris Riley was named the 2023-2024 Men's Golf WCC Coach of the Year and Craig Ronne and Andi Xu were selected to the 2023-2024 WCC Men's Golf All-Conference team, the West Coast Conference announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Riley earned his first career coach of the year honor after leading the Toreros to their first WCC Championship since 2008. Under his direction in 2023-2024, USD won the Lamkin Invitational (March 4-5) at their home course (San Diego Country Club) and placed second at both the Pauma Valley Invitational (March 18-19) and the El Macero Classic (April 12-14) before taking home the conference title and securing an automatic berth to the NCAA postseason last weekend at Gold Mountain Golf Club.

Tuesday's recognition marks San Diego's golf's first WCC Coach of the Year honor since 2011, when Tim Mickleson was selected. 

Ronne played a key role in San Diego's late-season surge by winning the Lamkin Invitational and finishing second in the Pauma Valley Invitational. He paced the Toreros in the conference tournament last weekend, carding a team-best nine-under 207 (69, 68, 70) to finish tied for fourth. The graduate student followed up his 36-hole performance by going undefeated in match play to help USD clinch the WCC title, prevailing 6&4 over Saint Mary's in the semifinal and 5&3 against Pepperdine in the championship round.

This is the first career WCC award for Ronne, who transferred to the Toreros after playing four seasons at Oregon.

Xu was a mainstay for the Toreros all season, beginning with a tied for team-best tied-for-seventh finish at the USF Howard Intercollegiate (September 18-19) in what marked the first event of San Diego's 2023-2024 campaign. After pacing his team again at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate (September 25-26), he placed a USD-best tied for ninth at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational (October 9-10). Xu, a senior from nearby Rancho Santa Fe, California, notched another Top-10 finish when the Toreros returned from winter break, placing tied for ninth again at the Arizona N.I.T.  He finished ninth at the WCC Championship and won 3&1 over Peppperdine in the final to help his team secure the title.

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— USD News Center