Friday, April 10, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. - In its last tournament before the GNAC Championships, the Simon Fraser men’s golf team entered a strong performance at the Western New Mexico Mustang Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday at the Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz. 

The Clan, along with fellow GNAC members Western Washington and Montana State Billings, competed against three top 25 teams including No. 8 Cal State Monterey Bay.

The 10th-ranked Clan carded a final round of 284 for a fifth-place finish at the event. The 284 was the second lowest round by any team at the intercollegiate, trailing only eventual champion Western New Mexico’s 283.

Freshman Chris Crisologo recorded his fourth top 10 finish of the year, placing eighth, after shooting two rounds of 69. Crisologo’s 3-under par was one of only nine golfers to finish under par in the 88-player tournament. His performance earned him GNAC Golfer of the Week honors.

Kevin Vigna helped propel the Clan to its third-straight top five finish with a 69 of his own in round three. Vigna finished at 1-over par for the tournament to tie for 13th.

MSUB's Jake Hedge ended the first two rounds in the top five individually, but a 79 in round three dropped him to an 18th-place finish. Teammate Austin Westphal also tied for 18th carding two rounds of par-72 golf. The Yellowjackets ended the tournament as a team in 15th.

Western Washington also pulled in two top 50 performances from sophomores Chris Hatch and Brennan Emory to finish one ahead of the Yellowjackets in 14th.

Two Teams in Top 6 in First NCAA West Region Rankings

Two GNAC men's golf teams were ranked in the top 10 in the initial NCAA West Region Rankings.

Simon Fraser came in at No. 3 while Western Washington was selected as the sixth best team in the west. Eight of the top 12 golfers in the GNAC belong to these two teams.

The Clan and the Vikings also reached last years regional, where SFU finished in sixth to advance to the NCAA Championships.

Eighth-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay was named the top team in the West Region while No. 5 Chico State was the second team.

The NCAA West Region Rankings help determine what teams qualify for the NCAA West Regional May 4-6 in Vallejo, Calif.

Four Golfers Ranked in Top 50

Four GNAC golfers are ranked in the top 50 individually in the Golfstat men's division II statistical rankings.

Simon Fraser has three student-athletes in the top 50 including Vigna (8th), Crisologo (26th) and Bret Thompson (50th). The three average the second, third and fourth lowest rounds in the GNAC, led by Vigna's 71.83 per round. 

Yellowjacket senior Hedge leads the conference in low-round average at 71.81, which also ranks sixth nationally among division II competition. 

The Clans John Mlikotic (78th) is the only other GNAC golfer to be ranked in the top 100.

The Yellowjackets and Vikings will be joined by NNU and SMU Monday at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock, Calif. The GNAC Championships begin one week later.