WHEELING, West Virginia– The Crusader men’s golf team was the first program from UMHB to begin competition during the 2020-21 academic year, when they played on September 8. It was also the last program to finish its season this spring.
Friday wrapped up the NCAA Div. III Championship for head coach Jordan Cox’s five-man squad, as UMHB placed 18th in the team standings at the four-day tournament. The Cru entered the final day of play in 17th, having shot a 310 on Thursday. But UMHB dropped one place as it closed out its season, finishing dead last amongst all remaining teams. 37 teams began play at the championship on Tuesday, but several missed the cut on Thursday, whittling down the field.
The fact that the Crusaders were still playing on the final day was something to be proud of. As were the individual performances from UMHB’s lone sophomore and four freshmen, who competed well throughout all four rounds.
Sophomore Kaden Treybig posted the lowest individual mark for the Cru, finishing in a five-way tie for 65th place following a 78 on Friday. Treybig fired a 78 on Tuesday, before marks of 75 and 76 in the next two rounds. For the tournament, he posted a score of 307 (+24).
Freshman William Sammons rebounded from consecutive days of shooting above 80 (80 and 84) to shoot an impressive 74 in round four. He had little trouble on the Speidel Jones Course the second time around, having already played there Thursday, with four birdies and eight pars. Sammons finished one stroke behind Treybig at 308 (+25), in 70th place.
ASC Champion Ari Saldana stayed consistent, shooting a 313 (+30), but finished in a tie for 87th place. The freshman shot a 79 on both Tuesday and Friday, with scores of 74 and 81 sandwiched between.
Nikolas Keratsopoulos and Luis Legarreta each fired a 78 in the final round, with Keratsopoulos finishing a stroke ahead of his teammate at 310 (+27) in a tie for 76th. Legarreta, at 311 (+28), tied for 80th.
Illinois Wesleyan never surrendered its lead, and won the Div. III National Championship with a score of 1155 to finish 23-above par. Webster University’s Will Hocker won the individual national championship after shooting a four-day total of 285.
LANSING, Michigan- UMHB women’s golfer Sydney McConnell saw her freshman season draw to a close Thursday, as the ASC individual champion missed the cut after three rounds at the Women’s Div. III National Championship.
McConnell finished all three of her rounds in the low-80s, firing an 82 to open the tournament Tuesday, followed by an 83 on Wednesday. Another 82 on Thursday was a solid showing, but not enough to clinch a spot in the 81-player field for the final day of competition.
She opened round three with a pair of pars, making the turn at five-above par. Four pars on the back nine resulted in McConnell finishing the final round of her season at 10-over.
Her score of 247 (+31) was tied for 53rd place following the third round.
Makensie Toole of George Fox University ran away with the national title, finishing 14 strokes ahead of the rest of the field at 291 (+3). Methodist University won the team title posting a score of 1231.
