ROCKWALL, Texas -- More accolades were bestowed on Midwestern State senior men's golfer Seth Bearden on Sunday night at the Lone Star Conference championship banquet at Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club. Bearden was named the LSC Academic Player of the Year and was one of seven players selected for the All-LSC first team in men's golf.

Bearden is a Sport and Leisure Studies major carrying a 3.857 grade-point average recognized on the MSU President's and Dean's Honor Rolls in addition to six LSC Commissioner's Honor Roll citations. The top golfer for MSU, Bearden currently ranks No. 9 in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and No. 55 among all Division II players. He carries a 71.3 adjusted scoring average and has posted six Top 20 individual individual finishes in the 2025-26 season, including medalist at NCAA Division II National Preview in October. Bearden claimed LSC Golfer of the Year and PING All-America First Team honors in 2025 and has twice been named All-LSC First Team.
 
Bearden is joined on the 2026 LSC Men's Golf All-Academic Team by Maximiliano Dufey of Lubbock Christian; Kongpop Kaikaew and Baptiste Touchard of St. Mary's; and Tyler Durden of UT Dallas. Both Bearden and Touchard are two-time LSC Men's Golf All-Academic Team honorees.
 
The Men's Golf All-Academic Team is selected by vote of the LSC sports information directors and recognizes student-athlete accomplishments in the classroom and in their sport. To be eligible for the All-Academic Team ballot, individuals must maintain a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average and have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.

St. Mary's senior Kongpop Kaikaew was named the 2026 Lone Star Conference Men's Golf Player of the Year and was joined on the All-LSC First Team by Bearden as well as teammate Baptiste Touchard; Sam Jenkins of DBU; Will Tate of UT Permian Basin; and Luis Palomo of West Texas A&M. 

Kaikaew, who is from Rayong, Thailand, leads the conference with a 70.1 adjusted scoring average. He won the DBU Classic (7-under-par) and Skip Wagnon Invitational (13-under-par). Kaikaew also had four other top-10 finishes. He is the No. 7-ranked golfer in all of NCAA Division II and is tops in the South Central Region.