PETERSBURG—After watching his team post a 31-shot improvement in the Virginia Commonwealth Conference golf tournament Monday, Southampton Academy coach David Gibbs was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.

The team, which placed fourth in the tournament at the Cardinal Club in Petersburg, has shown a marked improvement this year compared to Gibbs’ first two years as coach. In those first two seasons, the Raiders won a combined total of five matches. Southampton Academy had six wins this year.

“In each of my first three years as head coach we have made drastic improvements,” Gibbs said.

He was quick to deflect all of the credit for the successful season on the team, which includes nine seniors.

“The coach of the year award was an honor to receive,” Gibbs said. “However, I would not have even been considered for the award had it not been for the 12 members of the team giving their all day in and day out.”

The Raiders finished the tournament with a score of 390. The team was led by Michael Bunch’s 90 in the 18-hole event. Marlin McClelland shot a 96. David Bogese shot a 97 and Storm Gray shot a 105. Madison Trumble, who was named a VCC All-Academic performer at the tournament, shot a 109 and Taylor Edwards shot a 112.

“This team has been fantastic all year,” Gibbs said. “We have had our struggles, but we never stopped working. To go through the season and watch the other teams get better served as motivation for us to practice harder and focus more on our goals.”

The Raiders finished the regular season at 6-4 and 4-4 in the VCC.