Chico State captured its first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Golf Championship in six years on April 25. Two days later, the Wildcats were named the top seed for the West Region for the upcoming West/South Central Regional Championships.
 
The Wildcats received even more recognition on Monday.

 

Head Coach Nick Green was named the CCAA's Coach of the Year while six Wildcats were honored for their standout seasons as the conference announced on Monday.
 
Colby Dean, Josh McCollum, and Kelley Sullivan earned All-CCAA First Team honors while Christopher Colla, Serge Kiriluk, and Jordan Oliver received All-CCAA Honorable Mention.
 
"I'm super proud of my guys," Green said following the announcement. "It shows the depth we have as a team when six players make the all-conference team. I think they all deserved (the award)."
 
In his second season as head coach, Green guided the Wildcats to two tournament titles to start their 2017-18 season before getting second- and third-place finishes in the fall. Then in the spring, Chico State kept posting big finishes with a trio of second places to go with a fourth and a fifth, leading up to the CCAA Championships, which the Wildcats hosted at Butte Creek Country Club.
 
Green's Wildcats finished first in the stroke-play portion of the tournament as they shot 14-over 878, two shots better than Cal State Monterey Bay and included even-par 288s in the second and third rounds. Then the Wildcats rolled to a 4-0-1 record in the semifinal against Cal State San Bernardino before beating Cal State Monterey Bay 3-2 for the title in the medal/match play final. It was the Wildcats' first CCAA Championship since 2012.

 

Green managed a deep team that often could field an individual or two outside of its lineup who could contend on the leaderboard along with those Wildcats in the starting lineup, any of them capable of taking the top spot overall.
 
"Every event seemed like we had a different leader," Green said. "Everyone stepped up at different times. That just shows the kind of team we have."  
 
Sullivan finished second on the leaderboard at the CCAA Championships. The CCAA's individual champion as a sophomore in 2017, Sullivan led the Wildcats with four top-10 finishes in tournaments prior to last week's conference championships and had the best 54-hole score on the team at 209. He was a two-time CCAA Men's Golfer of the Week recipient with one coming in the fall portion of the schedule and one in the spring. He shot the lowest round of the day in CCAA final with a 4-under 68 to win his match by seven shots and officially secure the title for the Wildcats.
 
Dean, the team's lone senior, also was a CCAA Men's Golfer of the Week recipient in the fall as he helped the Wildcats win their first two tournaments of the season. He had three top-10 finishes including a first place at the team's host tournament, the InterWest Wildcat Classic held at The Links at Rolling Hills. He was third on the team in stroke average at 73.6, and he placed 15th at the CCAA Championships during stroke play, which was highlighted by a 1-under 71 in the third and final round.
 
A junior transfer, McCollum made an impact once he started competing for Chico State in the spring. He had the team's lowest average at 73.1 strokes per round in the 14 times he played as a Wildcat. He had two top-10 finishes despite not playing in the fall and placed as high as third. He took 13th in the CCAA stroke play that included a round of 72 and won his semifinal match by three shots with a 1-under 71.

 

Colla tied for seventh in the stroke-play portion of the CCAA Championships, shooting even-par 72s in the second and third rounds as part of a 4-over 220. He tied for fourth at one tournament and had a low round of 67. He shot 75 in the CCAA semifinal to win his match against Cal State San Bernardino's Octavio Guzman by five shots. But Colla's biggest round was in the final. He was the first one to tee off again, and he shot another even-par 72, winning his bout by seven strokes for the Wildcats' first point against Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
Kiriluk effectively clinched the title for the 'Cats. With Colla's victory completed and Sullivan out to a commanding lead with a few holes to play in his, Kiriluk parred the final three holes of his round while holding a one-shot advantage. He finished with a 75 to the 76 from the Otters' Kirabo Reed. There was no drama in his semifinal as Kiriluk beat his foe by 17 after shooting a 2-under 70. The junior had three top-10 finishes with a high of third place.
 
Oliver played 19 rounds for the Wildcats this season, averaging 73.7 shots per outing, good for fourth on the team. He had the team's lowest round of the season with a 66 at the Otter Invitational as he placed sixth in the fall tournament.
 
Other CCAA awards included Cal State Monterey Bay's Elis Svard being named Player of the Year, Sonoma State's Dexter Simonds recognized as the Newcomer of the Year, and Stanislaus State's Michael Jura being named Freshman of the Year.
 
Next up for the Wildcats is preparation for the May 7-9 regional at Tascosa Golf Club's La Paloma Course in Amarillo, Texas. In March at the region preview, Chico State finished second, a shot out of first place. Teams that advance out of the regional will play at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails at the Shoals on May 21-25 from the Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to determine the national champion.
 
Chico State was the national runner-up in 2016.