SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Denver junior Jet Hernandez headlined the 2025-26 Summit League Men’s Golf individual award winners, while North Dakota State’s Ekren Miller earned Coach of the Year honors in his first season at the helm of the Bison, League officials Tuesday.
Rounding out the trio of major award recipients was Oral Roberts freshman Jorge Sanchez Gutierrez, who was named the Newcomer of the Year.
Hernandez earned Golfer of the Year accolades after ranking second in the Summit League with a 71.9 scoring average during the 2025-26 campaign. The junior recorded 13 rounds below par to lead the Pioneers and added three top-five finishes during the season.
The Denver standout also finished tied for first at the Summit League Men’s Golf Championship before falling in a playoff tiebreaker. Hernandez became the first Pioneer to capture the league’s top individual honor since Jackson Solem went back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.
NDSU head coach Miller engineered an immediate turnaround for the Bison in his first season, guiding North Dakota State to its second Summit League Tournament title in program history and first since 2018.
Under Miller, the Bison opened the season with tournament victories at The Metropolis Intercollegiate and the Bluejay Invitational before finishing the year with seven top-four team finishes overall. NDSU tallied three tournament titles and two runner-up finishes during the campaign.
The Coach of the Year accolade marked the first by a North Dakota State coach since 2018.
Sanchez Gutierrez turned in a strong collegiate debut season for the Golden Eagles, posting a 72.73 scoring average across 11 tournaments while holding the highest Scoreboard (Clippd) ranking among conference golfers.
The ORU newcomer registered one top-five and two top-10 finishes during the season while posting the team’s low score in four tournaments. The freshman’s top finish came at the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate, where he tied for third with a 54-hole total of 209 (-7) following rounds of 70-71-68.
Sanchez Gutierrez also earned a tie for 10th at the Bell Bank “Pay it Forward” Collegiate after finishing at 212 (-4) and tied for 11th at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate with a 54-hole score of 210 (-6). He became the second Golden Eagle in the last three seasons to earn Newcomer of the Year honors.
The three individual awards are voted on by the league’s head coaches.
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