Norman, Okla. - St. Thomas Aquinas College golfers Djaia Darrason and Tanner Little have been recognized as Division II All-Americans by PING Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) for their outstanding work on the links during the 2023-2024 season.
The Spartans duo helped lead their squad to a third place finish at the NCAA Division II Golf East/Atlantic Super Regional Championship in Wheeling, West Virginia, which allowed STAC to qualify for the NCAA Division II Golf Championship for a tenth time in program history. At the national championship, held in Winter Garden, Florida, St. Thomas Aquinas placed 17th among a strong field of golf teams from across the United States.
Over the 54-hole, three-day event, the Spartans improved with each round of the tournament, posting collective scores of 299, 290 and 288 for a final total of 877 and shooting 25-over par.
Individually, junior Nolan Skaggs led the maroon and gold on the links, closing his season with championship scores of 77, 71 and 68 for a total of 216, which was 3-over par and placed Skaggs in a eight-way tie for 37th overall. Freshman Diego Ocasio (T55th - 74, 70, 74 = 218/+5), junior Tanner Little (T55th - 70, 74, 74 = 218/+5), senior Juan Ignacio Simon (T95th - 79, 75, 72 = 226/+13) and junior Djaia Darrason (99th - 78, 75, 75 = 228/+15) rounded out the scoring in the Spartans tenth NCAA National Championship team event in the last 16 years.
At the NCAA Division II East/Atlantic Super Regional, St. Thomas Aquinas placed third, shooting rounds of 300-300-289 in the three-day event, which left them just two shots shy of runner-up University of Charleston. Individually, Djaia Darrason led STAC for the regional and finished tied for fourth place overall, shooting a total of 217 (71, 75, 71), which was good for 4-over par. Tanner Little (222: 74, 74, 74) +9/T14th, Juan Ignacio Simon (224: 76, 77, 71) +11/T21st, Nolan Skaggs (229: 82, 74, 73) +16/T35th and Diego Ocasio (232: 79, 79, 74) +19/T49th rounded out the Spartans scoring.
STAC's campaign was highlighted by ten-top 10 team finishes in the regular season, with the Spartans finishing in the top five in six of those events and placing first at both the Adelphi University Panther Invitational and St. Thomas Aquinas College Spring Invitational.
Darrason and Little were joined by teammates Diego Ocasio, Juan Ignacio Simon and Nolan Skaggs as PING East Region Team selections, which were announced in May.