at NCAA Division III championship

May 14, 2009

Senior Jeff Nieman (Maineville/Cincinnati Moeller) and senior Andy Schillig (Pataskala/Licking Heights) each shot a 71 as Ohio Wesleyan leaped from a 16th-place tie to fourth place in the team standings during the second day of the NCAA Division III championship tournament, hosted by Methodist College on Thursday at the PGA Village course at Port St. Lucie, Fla.

LaVerne took over the lead in the team standings, finishing Thursday's round with a 5-under-par 283 and a 2-day total of 575. Host Methodist, which had posted a 9-under-par 279 on Wednesday, was 7 shots behind after shooting a 303 on Thursday. Oglethorpe and Ohio Wesleyan, tied for 16th place on Wednesday, moved into third and fourth respectively at 585 and 591.

Texas-Tyler was in fifth place with a 593, followed by Otterbein (594), Illinois Wesleyan and Redlands (595), and Wisconsin-Stout (596). St. John's (Minn.), in second place with an even-par 288 after Wednesday, slipped to 10th place at 597. Washington & Jefferson and Skidmore were tied for 11th place at 598, followed by Huntingdon (599), LaGrange (602), Nebraska Wesleyan, Emory, and Washington & Lee (605), Transylvania (606), and Franklin & Marshall (608). Central rounded out the top 20 teams, finishing with a 610, and Maryville (611), Carnegie Mellon (613), and Monmouth (619) were the final schools to make the cut.

Nieman and Schillig each carded a one-under-par 71 to help the Bishops skyrocket in the team standings. Schillig moved into a tie for fourth place in the individual standings, finishing the day at 144. Junior Tommy Harman (Perrysburg) shot a 75 on Thursday and was tied for 26th place at 148, Nieman was tied for 36th with a 149, junior Peter Joyce (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) fired a 75 on Thursday and was tied for 69th place at 152, and junior Jesse Chiero (Westerville/South) had a 73 on Thursday and was tied for 100th place at 156.

The NCAA Division III championship tournament is scheduled to continue with the third round on Friday.

Thursday's Results (pdf document)