CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia first-year men’s golfer Ben James (Milford, Conn.) has been named to the PING All-East Region team.

James is a finalist for both the Haskins Award and Division I Jack Nicklaus Award which are presented to the nation’s top collegiate golfer. He is currently competing with the UVA team at the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz.

James is ranked No. 7 in the latest Golfstat standings. He leads UVA with a 69.0 stroke average this season. He has picked up a school record five first-place finishes this season and has placed in the top four at 10 of 12 tournaments this year. Most recently, James was co-medalist at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional, matching his school record 54-hole scoring mark by shooting 20-under 196.

At UVA’s season-opening tournament at the Streamsong Invitational, he also shot 20-under, 196 to capture medalist honors. At that event, UVA posted a team score of 56-under 808, the lowest tournament score in program history. Coming off that opening win, UVA was ranked No. 1 nationally by Golfweek, the program’s first-ever top ranking.

James was also first at the Hamptons Intercollegiate, the General Hackler Championships and  UVA’s own Lewis Chitengwa Memorial. He was an All-ACC selection and placed third at the league championship.