MALIBU, California – Less than a week after winning medalist honors at the West Coast Conference Championships and earning a spot on the All-WCC first team, RJ Manke of the Pepperdine men's golf team picked up another league award today, capturing a spot on the WCC All-Academic first team.
 
To qualify for WCC All-Academic, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.20 grade-point average, have at least sophomore standing and have participated in at least half of the season's events.
 
Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine College Preparatory), a pre-business administration major who is a sophomore, shot a 6-under 210 at the WCC Championships to finish tied atop the leaderboard, and then won the individual title via a playoff. He also helped Pepperdine win its second straight team title. Back in the fall, he won the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and set Pepperdine records for 18 holes (10-under) and 54 holes (22-under). Manke is third on the team with a 71.87 scoring average and is ranked #151 nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin.
 
The 16th-ranked Waves are next headed to NCAA Regional play in Austin, Texas, from May 13-15.
 
WCC All-Academic first team: Alex Chin (San Francisco), Beau Forest (Pacific), Austin Fox (Pacific), Chad Hardy (BYU), Blake Hathcoat (Saint Mary's), Soren Lind (San Francisco), RJ Manke (Pepperdine), Matt McCarty (Santa Clara), Tyler Munetake (Gonzaga), Tim Widing (San Francisco).
 
WCC All-Academic honorable mention: Derek Ackerman (Santa Clara), Holden Backes (Gonzaga), George Gardner (San Diego), Kelton Hirsch (BYU), Charlie Magruder (Gonzaga), Yash Majmudar (San Diego), Cameron Meeks (LMU), Chris Mogg (Gonzaga), David Ricciardelli (San Diego), Matthew Ruel (Gonzaga), Michael Slesinski (Saint Mary's).