Spalding Sweeps Top 4 to Claim First SLIAC Men's Golf Championship

ST. LOUIS - Spalding University broke three Conference records and claimed Coach, Player and Newcomer of the Year honors as they captured their first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men's Golf Championship.

Anthony Irwin posted rounds of 69-71-71--211 to claim the individual crown and earn not only Player of the Year honors, but also Newcomer of the Year. His three-round total (211) is a new Conference record, and he posted low scores in the first two rounds.

The Golden Eagles boasted the top four finishers, marking the first time since 1998 that a team has done so. Andrew Pleasant finished just one stroke behind Irwin, shooting rounds of 70-72-70--212. His 70 in round three was also the low score for the day. Cody Sheeley, who tied Irwin after the first round with a low score of 69, finished the final two rounds with a 73 in each for a total of 215. Austin Root rounded out Spalding's top four with scores of 70-76-71--217.

Keith Thompson also place within the top 10 for the Golden Eagles with a three-round total of 226 (72-75-79). He tied for ninth place out of the 34 golfers competing.

As a team, Spalding posted a 54-round SLIAC record score of 854. Their first round score of 278 was also a Conference record, and they are only the second team to record three, sub-300 rounds. Webster University completed the same feat at the 2012 SLIAC Championships. The Golden Eagles had rounds of 278-291-285--854 to finish 14 over par.

Webster shot two, sub-300 rounds and finished with a three round total of 891 (289-307-295) to place second. Kyler Scott and Andrew Noble led the Gorloks with fifth and sixth place finishes respectively. Scott shot 71-75-72--218, while Noble had a total of 70-78-74--222. Also placing in the top 10 for Webster were Steven Kinsman and Brodie Dakin. Kinsman finished in eighth with a score of 74-78-73--225. Dakin tied for ninth with a score of 74-76-76--226.

Fontbonne University's Bryan Easton rounded out the top 10 in seventh place. Easton finished with rounds of 73-72-78--223 to lead the Griffins to a third place team finish.

The remainder of team finishes were as follows: 4th-MacMurray College (308-312-319--939), 5th-Westminster College (348-359-365--1072), 6th-Blackburn College (420-393-395--1208) and 7th-Eureka College (455-412-425--1292).

Spalding's Irwin, Pleasant, Sheeley, Root and Webster's Scott were all named First Team All-SLIAC. Earning Second Team All-Conference honors were Webster's Noble, Kinsman, Dakin, Fontbonne's Easton and Spalding's Thompson. In addition to All-SLIAC honors and the Player and Newcomer of the Year, Spalding's Cory Kaufman was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year.

Blackburn and Eureka both received the Sportsmanship Award. The team Sportsmanship Award is given to the team whose players, coaches and fans best exhibit the principles of good sportsmanship. The SLIAC also recognizes one individual from each team, selected by his coach and teammates, who best displays the ideals of sportsmanship. The 2013 All-Sportsmanship Team includes Trent Weidmann (Blackburn), Brad Lawson (Eureka), Dave Withers (Fontbonne), Tarryn Link (MacMurray), Andrew Pleasant (Spalding), Brodie Dakin (Webster) and Blake Stonecipher (Westminster).