PROVO -- BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank was named the 2006 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year while BYU All-American Jake Ellison earned MWC Player of the Year recognition this weekend.
Brockbank, who has led his team to a No. 6 national ranking and three tournament victories in 2006, earned his fourth coach-of-the-year award in 13 seasons. He was last named conference coach of the year in 2000 and also won the award 1999 and in 1994. His teams have finished in the top 10 in the nation the past two seasons, including a fourth-place finish in 2005. In his 13 seasons at the helm, Brockbank has coached 10 All-Americans, six academic All-Americans and three conference championship teams while his teams have consistently been ranked among the top 20 golf programs in the nation
Ellison, a junior from St. George Utah, became the first Cougar since Mike Weir in 1992 to be named conference player of the year. Ellison leads the No. 6-ranked Cougars with a 71.5 stroke this season. He has seven top 10 finishes in 12 tournaments including second-place finishes at the PING Cougar Classic and Jerry Pate Intercollegiate. In 2004 he was named a Golf Coaches Association of American Honorable Mention All-American. He was a key to leading BYU to a fourth-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Golf Championship where he finished tied for 47th (72-76-78-69--295). He is currently ranked No. 38 in the nation individually in the Golfstat Cup.