Will Shaffer, Grace Honigford named Polar Bear of the Month winners for September

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Junior Will Shaffer (Galena/St. Francis DeSales) and senior Grace Honigford (West Chester/Lakota East) have been selected as the Ohio Northern athletic department's Polar Bear of the Month award winners for September.

The award is given monthly to the student-athletes who best represent Ohio Northern University inside and outside of athletics within their given sport and season.

Shaffer, a midfielder on the men's soccer team, led the Polar Bears with 10 points and five goals in 10 September games highlighted by his two-goal performance in the season-opening 4-2 win over then-No. 5 Kenyon that helped him earn an Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award.

He is currently tied for fourth in the OAC in goals scored and tied for eighth in points.

Shaffer, a team captain, has helped lead the Polar Bears to a 5-4-1 record against what has been ranked as the seventh-toughest schedule in the country. Northern is off to a 1-0-0 start in conference play thanks to Saturday's 2-1 win over then-No. 9 Mount Union.

Honigford has had a stellar start to her senior season on the women's golf team, which has included four OAC Golfer of the Week accolades and making the school's first-ever hole-in-one.

Now a 14-time OAC Golfer of the Week, Honigford has won Medalist honors in all four tournaments the Polar Bears have competed in this fall. The four straight Medalist honors are a school record, as is her career total of 19.

Her hole-in-one came this past weekend on the 145-yard 14th hole at Bluffton Golf Course during the Bluffton Beaver Fall Classic where she won Medalist honors by three strokes with a 73-70—143.

Her second-round 70 marked an 18-hole school record, besting her previous record of 71, and she tied her own school record score for 36 holes.

As a team, the Polar Bears won their fourth straight tournament to improve to 19-0. Both of those marks are school records.

The Polar Bears shot a 308-302—610 to win the team title in Bluffton by 48 strokes. The second-round 302 tied the school record for 18 holes, and the 36-hole total was a new program best.

A College Sports Communicators Second Team Academic All-American last season, Honigford is averaging 72.7 strokes through seven rounds of play spanning four events this fall.

This marks Honigford's second Polar Bear of the Month award, joining the one she earned as a junior in April.

2023-24 Polar Bear of the Month Honorees