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Aggie men win LSC Championship
THACKERVILLE, Oklahoma (April 22) – For the seventh time in head coach Jerry Hrnciar's career, the Cameron Aggie men's golf team won a Lone Star Conference Championship. The Aggies were crowned the 2008 Champs today at the LSC's postseason tournament after defeating the field of ten schools. CU won the event by an impressive eight strokes with an overall team score of 855 (288-284-283).
“The night before (the final round) I told the team that we had been knocking on the door all season, and now it was time to walk through. We knocked on the door, stumbled over the threshold, and then made it through,” Head Coach Jerry Hrnciar said. “We played by far the best we played all year from tee to green, although we still struggled with the putter. The second round was really bad with the putter but we played so well that we were able to offset it and stay in the ballgame.”
All ten LSC men's golf squads participated in the event, which was played at the WinStar Golf Club in Thackerville, Oklahoma. CU secured an NCAA Division II Super Regional tournament berth today with the championship victory. Pinky Hartline of Texas A&M University-Commerce won the event with an overall score of 209 (69-69-71).
“All of the schools in the LSC have really beefed up their programs recently,” Coach Hrnciar said. “In the past it has been just a few schools, but now there is a bunch more. It feels good from a coaching perspective to win the conference because it gives us a positive mindset. That’s going to make it a lot easier to prepare for our next one.”
Cameron’s top finisher was once again junior Peter Svajlen. He finished in a tie for 2nd place overall, just a stroke behind TAMUC’s Hartline. Svajlen’s three-round score was 210 (72-67-71). Overall Svajlen shot a -6 for the event. His second round score of 67 was the lowest of the entire second round, and CU’s lowest score of the tournament.
Senior Cane Shumaker also put in a top five finish after taking 4th place overall. Shumaker, the lone senior on this year’s squad, turned in a 212 (69-71-72). He was also one of two Aggies to finish under par for the event with a -4.
“This team gets along so well, and I know they will be trying extra hard to give Cane the opportunity to go out to a national championship in his senior season,” Coach Hrnciar said. “Cane is very focused and they are too. We always want to have a chance to win nationals; it’s not just getting there, you have to win it.”
Sophomores Michael Lee and Brett Leavell both finished in the top twenty-five of the fifty golfer field. Lee took 17th place with a score of 218 (73-73-72) while Leavell recorded a 22nd place finish with a score of 220 (76-76-68). Leavell’s third-round score of 68 was CU’s lowest score of the round.
Robbe Trout, another of CU’s sophomores, also had an unbelievable tournament and took home a 27th place finish. Trout was extremely consistent this week and recorded a three-round score of 222 (74-73-75).
The aforementioned NCAA Division II Super Regionals will be played at the Golf Club at Circle C in Austin, Texas, from May 5-7. Live scoring will be available online courtesy of GolfStat.com. The Aggies won first place at last year’s Super Regional Championship in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“We can’t afford too many mental mistakes or any bad putting at the Super Regionals because of the caliber of the competition,” Coach Hrnciar said. “So many of top teams are there, and it is essentially the national championship with a few exceptions. We need to play pretty flawless golf with a lot of intensity. We have played the course the last three years in tournaments and have had nine competitive rounds there. That should help us against some of the tougher schools from the southeast.”
Depending on how CU fairs in this year’s Super Regionals, they could be moving onto the NCAA National Championship. The National Championship tournament takes place in Houston, Texas, from May 14-17.
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