PORTLAND, Ore. – Making a strong comeback on the final day of the 2014 NCAA men’s golf regional tournament, Simon Fraser forced its way into the NCAA Championships, a program first and a finishing touch on what was the best season for the Clan since becoming a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Simon Fraser senior Mike Belle, who was tabbed as the GNAC Golfer of the Year, finished his career by shooting a 69 in his final round at the NCAA Championships last week in Allendale, Mich. As a team, SFU finished 17th among the 20-team field, posting a three-round score of 918 (312-306-300).
The NCAA Championships were unchartered territory for SFU and long time head coach John Buchanan, who has been at the helm of the program since the early 1990’s and involved in Clan athletics for more than four decades.
SFU reached the finals after posting a 290 in the final round of the NCAA regional tournament, and John Mlikotic and Kevin Vigna finished tied for eighth at the event with scores of 221.
Also representing the GNAC at the NCAA regional tournament was Western Washington, and Northwest Nazarene senior Nick Hardy.
The Vikings, who finished third in the NCAA Championships a season ago, checked in at No. 10 in the regional tournament with a team score of 914 (309-303-302). Freshman Chris Hatch was the top WWU finisher at the event, tying for 13th place with a score of 222 (78-73-71).
Hardy earned the berth in the regional tournament to close a decorated career within the Crusaders’ program. This season, the senior became the first player in NNU men’s golf history to win a major event, as he took home medalist honors at the Sonoma State Invitational on Oct. 14-15, 2013.
A first team all-GNAC selection, Hardy had the most top-10 finishes in the GNAC this season with five.
Hardy also helped NNU to its first-ever GNAC Men’s Golf Championships team title, as the Crusaders defeated Saint Martin’s in a dramatic playoff hole.
NNU head coach Craig Stensgaard and SMU head coach Kevin Bishop were voted GNAC co-Coach of the Year, after tying for first place at the GNAC Championships, presented by the Coeur d’Alene Resort, with scores of 892.
Meeting in a single-hole playoff to determine a tournament champion, NNU junior Connor Magnuson logged an eagle on the par-5 first hole to propel the Crusaders to victory. The conference title was the second in NNU history since joining the GNAC, as the Crusaders’ 2001 men’s cross country team was the other from the school to win a GNAC title.
Saint freshman Ryan Baumgart was a first team all-conference selection, after finishing second at the GNAC championships with a score of 220 (73-73-74). Patrick Whealdon was a second team all-GNAC pick and finished with the 10th-best season average in the conference at 75.7.
Ryan Pickthorn had a strong season for SMU, averaging a round of 75.8 with a team-high five par rounds in 2013-14. The highlight of Pickthorn’s season came in early March, when he won the Cal State East Bay Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout with a score of 219 (75-68-76).
Finishing third at the GNAC Championships was Simon Fraser, posting a team score of 895 (305-293-297). Vigna earned GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, after winning the conference tournament by seven strokes with a score of 213 (75-67-71).
Belle and Vigna finished second and third in the conference in terms of scoring average, with marks of 74.4 and 74.5, respectively. Belle’s 11 par rounds were far and away the most in the conference this season, with Vigna’s seven being the next-most across the GNAC.
Mlikotic and SFU sophomore Bret Thompson each earned second team all-GNAC honors this season, with Belle and Vigna headlining the first team.
Despite finishing just five strokes behind the leaders at the GNAC Championships, Western Washington landed in fourth place in the tightly contested tournament with a score of 897 (309-296-314).
WWU, which had won the previous six GNAC titles, placed a pair of golfers in the top-10 at the event. Kyle Schrader tied for second with a score of 220 (71-69-80) and Chris Hatch was one stroke behind at 221 (76-68-77).
Both players were first team all-conference selections, and Craig Crawford posted the lowest scoring average in the conference this season at 74.3 over 12 rounds. Junior Mark Strickland was a second team all-conference pick, as his season scoring average of 75.6 ranked No. 8 in the GNAC.
Rounding out the field at the GNAC Championships was Montana State Billings, which finished its season with a score of 919 (309-296-314). Gage Huft, a second team all-GNAC pick, was the lone Yellowjacket to finish in the top-10 at the tournament, posting a score of 222 (75-74-73).
MSUB junior Austin Westphal was picked as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, averaging a score of 75.8 over 21 rounds this season.
The Yellowjackets posted the lowest single round team score this season, firing a 278 at the Rocky Mountain Invitational in September of 2013. MSUB senior Brad Harrelson logged the lowest individual round of the season when he shot a 66 in the second round of the Western Washington Invitational on Sept. 23, 2013.
WWU’s Crawford also notched a 66 this season, his coming in the second round of the Western New Mexico Invitational on April 7. Crawford moved into fourth place in GNAC history among players who have competed in at least 40 rounds, as his average of 73.5 sandwiches him between former Viking teammates Dylan Goodwin (73.3) and Jake Webb (74.2).
Also cracking the career top-10 leaders this season was WWU’s Strickland, who holds a GNAC ninth-best mark of 74.7 over 74 career rounds.
Simon Fraser’s season-low team round of 282 at the Cal Baptist Invitational on March 24 tied for the fifth-lowest round in a spring tournament in GNAC history.
