1st of 9 at NCAC Invitational

May 2-3, 2009

Senior Jeff Nieman (Maineville/Cincinnati Moeller) won medalist honors to lead Ohio Wesleyan to the team title at the North Coast Athletic Conference Invitational, hosted by Allegheny College on Saturday and Sunday at the Meadville Golf Club.

Ohio Wesleyan won the tournament with a 54-hole total of 898. Wittenberg finished in second place with a 918, followed by Allegheny (921), Wabash (951), Denison (967), Wooster (977), Kenyon (978), Hiram (1062) and Oberlin (1264). The 54-hole event is the last of 4 regular-season tournaments which count toward determining the North Coast Athletic Conference's automatic qualifer for the NCAA Division III championships.

Nieman won individual honors with a 218, taking the Bob Nye Award as the medalist of the NCAC Invitational. He is pictured at right with Betsy Mitchell, athletics director at Allegheny College.

Senior Andy Schillig (Pataskala/Licking Heights) finished in second place at 222, junior Peter Joyce (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) was fifth with a 229, junior Tommy Harman (Perrysburg) tied for 12th place with a 234, and junior Jesse Chiero (Westerville/South) tied for 18th place at 239.

With the win, Ohio Wesleyan also won the NCAC championship with the best overall score in the 4 conference events this year. Ohio Wesleyan finished with a total of 2650 shots for the 4 tournaments, while Wittenberg was second with 2745. Allegheny was third with a 2758, followed by Denison (2831), Wabash (2857), Wooster (2908), Kenyon (2947), Hiram (3220), and Oberlin.

The conference championship was the third straight for Ohio Wesleyan and was the Bishops' eighth in the last 10 seasons.

Along with the NCAC championship, Ohio Wesleyan receives the conference's automatic qualifier to the 2009 NCAA Division III championship tournament, to be held May 13-16 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Nieman finished as the NCAC individual leader, with his total of 667 representing the low individual score in the 4 tournaments. Nieman also received the Dick Gordin Award as the NCAC Golfer of the Year. He was joined on the All-NCAC first team by Chiero and Schillig.

Joyce, who finished fifth in the NCAC Invitational, was an honorable mention All-NCAC choice.

Ohio Wesleyan head coach Jon Whithaus was named NCAC Coach of the Year. It was the fourth consecutive NCAC Coach of the Year citation for Whithaus, and the seventh in his 12 seasons at the Ohio Wesleyan helm.

Final Results (pdf document)