Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Conover, N.C. – The Simon Fraser men’s golf team shot a 285 in the third round to finish in fifth place and advance to Thursday and Friday’s match play rounds at the NCAA Championships in Conover, N.C. Wednesday.

Simon Fraser will face St. Leo in the first round of match play Thursday morning. St. Leo tied for third with Central Missouri, but lost on the second tiebreaker.

The Clan had 14 birdies on the day to finish with a three-round total of 859, one stroke away from St. Leo and Central Missouri’s third-place tie. St. Leo is the seventh-ranked team according to Golfstat, one behind the Clan who are ranked sixth.

Freshman Chris Crisologo entered a third round of 71 to tie for eighth in the 108-player tournament. Crisologo carded rounds of 71, 69 and 71 for a three round total of 211, just six strokes from the individual champion.

Kevin Vigna tied for 27th in the championship after shooting a 75 in the third round. He finished carding a three-round total of 218.

Alan Tolusso and John Mlikotic finished the third round at and under par, respectively. Tolusso tied for 17th while Mlkotic tied for 43rd. Bret Thompson also tied for 43rd after a final round of 73.

Central Missouri’s Sam Migdal, who led the entire tournament, was the individual champion finishing with a three-round score of 205. Lynn University was the top finishing team with an 853 three-round total.

The match play rounds bracket the eight-remaining schools against one another to decide the NCAA Champions. The No. 1 team faces the No. 8, No. 2 faces No. 7, No. 3 pairs with No. 6 and No. 4 challenges No. 5. Five golfers from each team will couple with five from the opposing team in an 18-hole challenge. A point will be awarded to the winners of each duo after 18-holes and the team with the most points at the end of the five rounds advances.

The winners of each team tandem will advance to the semifinal round and the winners of that to the championship Friday.

The Clan join the 2012-13 Western Washington team as the only GNAC squads to ever reach the match-play rounds. The Vikings reached the semifinal round and placed third in 2013 after knocking off top-ranked Florida Southern.

#1 Lynn University vs #8 Florida Southern
#2 Nova Southeastern vs #7 Chico State
#3 Central Missouri vs #6 South Carolina - Aiken
#4 St. Leo vs #5 Simon Fraser

Day 2

Simon Fraser moved up one spot to sixth while freshman Chris Crisologo jumped from 21st to tied for fourth at the NCAA Championships in Conover, N.C. Tuesday.

Heading into the third round, the Clan are seven strokes ahead of the ninth-place team. The top eight will advance to the match-play rounds Thursday and Friday.

Crisologo made three birdies and only one bogey to finish the second round at 2-under par. Coupled with his round one score of 71, Crisologo is just three strokes behind the leaders and only one stroke off the third-place golfer with a score of 140.

Four Clan golfers improved their scores from day one as they lowered their day two score by four strokes. Their second-round score of 285 was the third lowest of the day and the sixth lowest of the tournament.

SFU continues to lead all West/South Central Regional competitors, the closest one being Chico State in eighth with a two-round score of 580. The Clan has a two-round total of 574, one stroke behind a pair of fourth-place teams.

Kevin Vigna and Alan Tulusso climbed into the top 20 individually after each carded four birdies on the day. Bret Thompson took two strokes off of his round as he ended the day with an eagle on 18 and John Mlikotic improved by five strokes, carding a 2-over 73 on the day.

Day one individual leader, Sam Migdal of Central Missouri, is now tied with St. Leo's Ryan Gendron atop the leaderboard after shooting a 4-under par. South Carolina - Aiken took over the team lead at 567.

The 7,021-yard, par 71 course features the top 20 teams in the nation along with eight individuals whose teams did not qualify for the tournament.

If the Clan make the eight-team cut after the third round Wednesday they will continue in match-play Thursday and Friday.

Day 1

The Simon Fraser men’s golf team is tied for seventh after the first day of the NCAA Championships at the Rock Barn Golf Course in Conover, N. C. Monday.

The Clan are led by GNAC Player of the Year, Kevin Vigna, and GNAC Freshman of the Year, Chris Crisologo, who both shot even-par 71 rounds. The pair are tied for 21st individually.

Sophomore Alan Tulusso is only one stroke behind the SFU leaders at plus-1, tying for 29th.

SFU is tied with Chico State in seventh place. The two teams lead the five schools that came out of the West/South Central Regional two weeks ago.

The GNAC Championships individual winner, Bret Thompson, carded a 4-over par 75 to add to the SFU’s team score. John Mlikotic shot a 7-over 78 to complete the Clans first round.

The top-ranked team in Division II, Nova Southeastern out of the Sunshine State Conference, is leading the Championship at 5-under – four strokes better than the second-place team. Individually, Central Missouri’s Sam Migdal leads the 108-player field at 5-under par.