Spalding Dominant In SLIAC Tournament Victory
TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
FULL RESULTS
Spalding University put together a dominant performance this week in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, capturing their second conference title in program history. The Golden Eagles placed four players in the top six of the field including the top two finishers.
Spalding grabbed the tournament lead on day one and never looked back. The Golden Eagles finished all three rounds under 310, with only one other team able to accomplish one round under that mark. As Spalding grew more comfortable with the course they were able to lower their score in each round; opening with a 307 in round one, then scoring a 306 in round two, and closing with a 303. The Golden Eagles finished the tournament with a team score of 916, 22 strokes better than the next closest team.
Spalding had four players finish in the top six of the field with Hunt Lenz and Jonathon Gandia battling each other for top honors all tournament long. The duo each shot identical 76's in the first two rounds with Lenz bettering all competitors with a final round 73, tying for the lowest score of the round, and claiming the individual championship with a final score of 225. Gandia finished second with a 227 while teammates Michael Vick was fourth with a 231 and Brandon Sanner was sixth with a 233.
Webster University finished second in the tournament with a 938, closing the tournament out with a 309. They were led by Tyler Thorman who held the tournament lead after round one with a 75. Thorman fell back in round two but closed the action with a 73 in round three, tying for the round low. He finished third overall with a 228 and was joined by teammate Brodie Dakin, who shot a 232, in the top five.
Iowa Wesleyan College took third place with a three round score of 970, and posted the fourth lowest round total of the tournament with a 310 in the second round. They were led by Trent Hoekstra with an eighth place finish with a 238 and Tanner Travis, who finished tied for ninth with a 240. Travis in fact had the round two low score of 75.
Fontbonne University placed fourth with a 974 and were led by Zane Betz who totaled a 236 for a seventh place finish. MacMurray College took fifth place with a 996 and had one top ten finisher in Tarry Link who tied for ninth with a 240.
Blackburn College was sixth with a 1013 as Matt Liddell led the Beavers with a two day score of 251, finishing 20th. Westminster College was seventh in the tournament with a 1064 and were led by Blake Harris who shot a 263 to tie for 29th place. Eureka College rounded out the team scoring with an 1120 as Brody Hibbard led the Red Devils with a 262 to finish 28th.
