Monday, April 25, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore.  – With tournament titles at the GNAC Golf Championships, the Western Washington men and Simon Fraser women were selected the GNAC’s Red Lion Teams of the Week.

The Vikings won their seventh men’s title, tying a GNAC Championships record low three-round score of 837. They were led by Brett Johnson’s tournament record 10-under-par 203, which earned him medalist honors. Chris Hatch tied for third place at 5-under-par 208, while Michael Butler tied for sixth at 3-under-par 210 to help lead Western Washington to an 18-stroke victory.

“I think we just stuck to our game plan since it worked so well on the first day,” said Johnson. “On the final round, I came out aggressive on the front side and got the job done.”

On the women’s side, Simon Fraser claimed its first team title by upsetting previous five-time reigning champion Western Washington. The Clan took first place by eight strokes with a score of 617 and became the first team in conference history other than Western Washington to win the women’s title.

The Clan were led by a first place finish from Michelle Waters. The sophomore was the medalist with her lowest tournament score of the season at 151 and lowest individual round at 74. She tied for first place with Saint Martin’s Jennifer Liedes, but won the playoff with a birdie on the first hole. Kylie Jack tied for third place with a score of 153 to help push the Clan to the title.

“I have never been in a playoff before and I’ve never felt nerves like that on the first tee,” said Waters. “My game plan for the tournament was to just commit to my shots, pick lines and trust I could hit the ball where I wanted.”

In addition to winning the conference title, Western Washington earned its 18th straight berth into the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf South Central/West Region Championships, which was announced on Friday. The Vikings ranked No. 9 in the West Region as they will travel to Las Cruces, N.M. for the three-round tournament May 2-4.