May 24, 2007

BEAUMONT - Lamar University men's golfer Oliver Bekker and women's tennis player Maria Gutierrez were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VI University Division teams on Thursday.

Bekker, a sophomore from Stellenbosch, South Africa, who has a 3.75 grade point average in Management, was named to the District VI University Division first team.

Bekker has been a force for the LU golf team this season, with six top six finishes, while posting an average score of 71.68 per round this spring. His next challenge will be at the 2007 NCAA Championships at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.

As a freshman, Bekker was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, earned First-Team All-Southland Conference honors , earned Golfweek Honorable Mention All-American honors and was selected as a member of the Eaton/Golf Pride All-South Central Region Team.

Gutierrez, a sophomore from San Antonio, Venezuela, who has a 4.0 GPA in civil engineering, earned District VI University Division second team honors.

Gutierrez helped the Lady Cardinal tennis team to a third place finish in the Southland Conference this season, posting a record of 13-7 in singles play during the spring season. She compiled a 10-5 record at No. 2 singles, went 3-1 at No. 3 and 0-1 at No. 4, while posting a 12-11 record in doubles play.

District VI is comprised of university's from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The sports information directors from each university vote on the team.