Wednesday, May 6, 2015

VALLEJO, Calif. – The Simon Fraser men’s golf team finished tied for third place at the NCAA South Central/West Super Regional to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships Wednesday at Hiddenbrooke Golf Course in Vallejo, Calif.

SFU is heading to its second-straight NCAA Championships after finishing the three-round regional with a score of 908, tying with fifth-ranked Chico State for third. 

Chris Crisologo finished the third and final round of the tournament shooting a 1-under 71 to tie for sixth, leading the Clan.

The national tournament will be held May 18-22 at the Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, N.C.

Joining SFU and Chico State at the NCAA Championships will be West Texas A&M, Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay, which won the regional by 19 strokes with a score of 887. Patrick Skakel from CSU - Colorado Springs, who won the tournament carding a 217, and Josh Aguilar from Dallas Baptist will also join these teams in the championships being the top two finishers not on one of the qualifying teams.

Entering the regional, the GNAC champions and the ninth-ranked team in Division II carded a 296 in the first round which tied the team for second place. Crisologo hit two birdies on the front nine, to help position his team for a championship spot.

SFU slipped to third on the second day, but Bret Thompson made three birdies in the round to keep his team in contention.

The final day featured the best round of the tournament from any GNAC player with Crisologo carding a 1-under, a feet only 14 golfers in the tournament accomplished.

Crisologo finished the tournament carding a 220, three strokes off from the individual champion. Thompson finished tied for 19th after carding two rounds of 74 and John Mlikotic tied for 35th, finishing as the only other GNAC golfer to make the top 50.

Western Washington, which reached the NCAA Regional for the 17th-straight year, placed in 19th after two rounds of 319. The Vikings were led by sophomore Chris Hatch who tied for 31st with a score of 229.

Montana State Billings senior Jake Hedge, who was competing as an independent, tied for 84th in the 108-player tournament.