7th of 36 at NCAA Division III championship

May 16, 2009

Senior Jeff Nieman (Maineville/Cincinnati Moeller) carded a 72 to lead Ohio Wesleyan at the fourth and final day of the NCAA Division III championship tournament, hosted by Methodist College on Saturday at the PGA Village course at Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Oglethorpe shot a one-over-par 289 to win the NCAA Division III team championship, finishing with an 1164 to defeat LaVerne by 4 shots. Host Methodist carded a 300 on Saturday to finish third with a total of 1171. Texas-Tyler finished in fourth place at 1184, followed by Illinois Wesleyan (1187) and Huntingdon (1189).

Ohio Wesleyan shot a 294 on Saturday and finished in seventh place with an 1190, while St. John's was eighth with a 1201 and Redlands finished ninth at 1207.

Nebraska Wesleyan and Skidmore tied for 10th place at 1210, followed by Wisconsin-Stout (1221), Otterbein (1224), Washington & Jefferson (1225), Transylvania (1227), Emory (1229), Washington & Lee (1232), LaGrange (1233), and Central (1234). Maryville completed the top 20 teams with a 1239, followed by Franklin & Marshall (1242), Carnegie Mellon (1246), and Monmouth (1256).

Nieman had the Bishops' best round of the day, shooting a 72 to move into a tie for eighth place in the final individual standings at 293. Senior Andy Schillig (Pataskala/Licking Heights) fired a 77 on Saturday to finish in a tie for 22nd place at 297, junior Tommy Harman (Perrysburg) carded a 74 on Saturday to tie for 38th place at 302, junior Peter Joyce (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) had a 74 on Saturday to tie for 56th place with a 306, and junior Jesse Chiero (Westerville/South) had a 74 on Saturday to tie for 60th place at 307.

Mitchell Fedorka of La Verne and Olafur Loftsson of Oglethorpe each shot a 285 to finish in a tie at the top of the individual leaderboard, with Loftsson winning the individual title in a sudden-death playoff. Rizal Amin of LaVerne was third at 287, while Matt Bova of Methodist and Mack Duke of Huntingdon tied for fourth place at 291.

Ohio Wesleyan's seventh-place finish in the NCAA Division III championship tournament is the Bishops' sixth national top-10 finish in the last 8 seasons.

Saturday's Results (pdf document)