Tuesday, April 23, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho – Securing its 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA Golf Championships on Tuesday afternoon at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, the Western Washington University men captured the 2024 GNAC Men’s Golf Championships team title and were just one stroke off the tournament record for a team three-round score.

The Vikings took advantage of picture-perfect playing conditions on both days of the event, ripping through the par-71, 6,447-yard course with a 14-under-par 838 (273-287-278) to post a convincing, eight-stroke victory over second-place Simon Fraser which shot an 846 (285-278-283). WWU’s scoring total was one off the tournament record of 837, set by Simon Fraser in 2015 and matched by the Vikings in 2016. Tuesday marked WWU’s 11th team title in the 16-year history of the event since its inception in 2008.

“It was a great couple days across the board, and everybody contributed,” said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. “It was so bunched up starting today, and knowing that we had some great senior leadership – the upperclassmen stepped up big time. We have had a bunch of different lineups this season, and our team is really deep. Up until this point we hadn’t shown what we can do. The guys had a great week of prep, they came in with some confidence, and they backed it up every day. I couldn’t be any happier for them.”

On his 23rd birthday the Red Leafs’ Michael Crisologo followed in his brother’s footsteps, carding a three-round score of 13-under-par 200 (67-65-68) to become the second man in his family to win GNAC medalist honors. Crisologo’s total score was one off Aidan Thain’s GNAC record of 199, which the Viking set at the 2022 event. Crisologo’s older brother Chris Crisologo won the 2017 GNAC individual title, and Michael became the fourth Red Leaf overall to win the tournament.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Crisologo. “The weather was really good, conditions were nice, and the guys I played with were great company.”

Crisologo entered the final round of the event in a tie with Grayson Giboney of Northwest Nazarene, before pulling away down the final stretch of holes. The Nighthawk graduate student finished second at the event, posting a three-round score of 8-under-par 205 (68-64-73).

“Michael has been resilient and has knocked on the door of this a few times, so to finally cap off his final GNAC Championship with a tournament win is a huge accomplishment. We are so proud of him,” said Steinbach.

WWU’s Ryan Ho, who broke the tournament record and tied the overall GNAC single-round record with his 9-under-par 62 in Round 1 on Monday, finished in third place with a three-round score of 6-under-par 207 (62-71-74). Teammate Peter Dionne-Yahr was close behind with a 5-under-par 208 (67-72-69), and Montana State Billings senior Paul O’Neil rounded out the top-five with a score of 4-under-par 209 (69-68-72).

“My main focus was on keeping a level head the entire time,” said Dionne-Yahr. “It is pretty special, and we have a really talented team. To have all of us go out and play really good golf especially on the last day shows how patient we are. This course was in awesome shape, the greens were running great, and I was able to keep my driver in play and take advantage of the par 5s. We couldn’t have had better weather and nice, calm conditions. It was perfect.”

The Yellowjackets mated their highest-ever finish at the conference event, placing third with a 4-under-par 848 (280-283-285). Saint Martin’s and Northwest Nazarene tied for fourth place, each finishing with an 8-over-par 860 (286-276-298).

Crisologo led all players in the tournament with 18 birdies, one ahead of MSUB senior Liam O’Halloran who had 17 in his final conference tournament event.

With the GNAC Championships title in hand, Western Washington receives the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA West/South Central Super Regional in Las Cruces, New Mexico on May 9-11.