MOSCOW, Idaho – Josh McCartain has been named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and three other Vandals were honored with All Conference recognition, the league announced Sunday.

McCartain was joined on the All-Big Sky First Team by Sam Johnson. Dalton Dean earned second team Honors and Joe Sykes received an honorable mention nod.

McCartain earned Player of the Year honors after a consistent season. He finished in the top 13 in eight of the Vandals' 10 tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the Battle for Idaho and a third-place finish at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invite.

He close the regular season with a 71.1 scoring average and is ranked 375th in the Scoreboard by Clippd rankings.

Johnson closed the regular season with a third-place finish at the Battle for Idaho, but his best tournament of the year was his individual win at the Dolenc Invitational in the fall.

This is Johnson's third All-Big Sky recognition. He earned first-team honors in 2024 and second-team honors as a freshman in 2023.

Dean earned four top 25 finishes this year, including a 15th-place finish at the Palouse Collegiate and a seventh-place finish at The Battle for Idaho. This is the first All-Conference recognition for the senior.

Sykes, the 2024 Big Sky Champion, had a third-place finish at the Dolenc Invite and a 14th place finish at Air Force. He earned Second Team honors as a freshman in 2023.
 
Big Sky Championship Tees Off Monday
The Vandals are the highest ranked team heading into the Big Sky Championship which tees off early Monday morning at the Wigwam Gold Course in Litchfield Park, Arizona.

Joining the four seniors in the lineup is sophomore Charley Simpson. McCartain will play from the No. 1 spot, while Johnson will play from the third. Dalton Dean is the No. 3 golfer while Simpson will play in the fourth spot and Sykes rounds out the lineup at fifth. Freshman Henrik Koglin will be the alternate.

The course is set to play at 7,066 yards and a par 72.

The first Vandal tees off at 7:20 a.m. A live leaderboard is available via Scoreboard by Clippd. A tournament program is available here.