Southeastern (Fla.) University captured the NCCAA national title by finishing with a two-day total of 597 to beat out the rest of the 23-team field. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University was second at 606, while North Greenville (S.C.) College was third at 607.

The Cougars, who were tied for sixth place after the first round and were just seven strokes off the lead, finished tenth with a two-day total of 624. The team fired a 305 on the first day, but a 319 on the second day dropped MVNU out of title contention.

“We got off to a decent start on day one shooting a 305,” said MVNU head coach Mark Stiverson. “My initial reaction was that we would be in the middle of the pack. To my surprise and delight, we were positioned pretty well as we were tied for sixth and only seven back from the leader.”

“Day two, however, was a different story,” said Stiverson. “Just about all the guys got off to a bad start. A couple maintained and were able to make the turn in a reasonable number of even or plus two. But then, the Ugly showed up. The Hombre has three nines. They are called the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. On day two, we started on the Bad and it was bad. Then, we made the turn on the Ugly, and yes, Ugly did raise its head.”

Individually, Matt Parziale of Southeastern won medalist honors with a two-day total of 141 as he edged Forrest Carvajal of Central Baptist College, Austin Conroy of Indiana Wesleyan University, and Seth Doran of Olivet Nazarene by three strokes each.

Senior Preston Knight (above left) led the Cougars with a two-day total of 152, while senior Tim Hepner fired a 155. Senior Anthony Savage carded a 158, junior Tyler Tinch finished with a 159, and junior Jared Schlabach rounded out the scoring with a 163.

“I was proud of the guys for not giving up,” said Stiverson. “Shooting higher than normal scores in their national tournament had to be tough. It would have been easy to bag it and not to try. But, they did not. I believe this experience will pay for itself this spring when we hit the links again.”

Knight and junior Matt Kerns were also selected to the NCCAA Scholar-Athlete Team for their achievement in the classroom.