Arguably the best golfer in La Verne history, Mitch Fedorka stayed close to his hometown of Upland when making his college choice. The rest is history.
He led the Leopards the first four SCIAC titles in a seven-year run of dominance, earning Lee Fulmer SCIAC Athlete of the Year distinction in 2009 and the Jack Nicklaus Award as the best golfer in Division III that year. He captured the individual SCIAC title, tying at -6 and winning a playoff.
Fedorka was a two-time national runner-up and All-American at the NCAA Division III Championship his junior and senior years, including tying for the title in 2009 before going to a playoff. The Leopards placed a high of second at the national tournament.
Fedorka has also been recognized as the 2010 Anthony P. Scafani Sportsman of the Year and was inducted into the La Verne Athletics Hall of Fame as one of just three former solo-sport golf stars (Joe Skovron, Rizal Amin) in 2017. He is the only two-time First Team member of the Leos Hall, with Amin also making First Team once and Kelby Scharmann having won the individual national title in 2015.
Fedorka continues to be involved in the game and even still in the SCIAC, as he is the two-time defending Coaching Staff of the Year winner at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. Now in his seventh year with the program after assisting the La Verne women’s team upon graduation, he has led the Stags to SCIAC titles by significant margins in each of the last two years, though 2023 Lee Fulmer SCIAC Athlete of the Year Michael Ordona and the Leos will be looking to reclaim the title for the first time since 2019.
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