Harold Funston Invitational
Men Win Funston Intercollegiate
10/9/2012 5:27:00 PM | Men's Golf
HUNTSVILLE - The Bearkats' new golf coach has gotten off to quite a start. On Tuesday, Sam Houston State captured the men's team title at the SHSU Harold Funston Intercollegiate and the Bearkats finished first, second and third in the men's medalist standings after playing 54 holes at Raven Nest Golf Club.
Sam Houston's Micah Hill, Logan Boatner and Justin McKay claimed the top three medals and the Bearkat men cruised to a 40-stroke victory.
St. Edward's won the women's title with Texas A&M finishing second and Sam Houston taking third.
Both events were played at Raven Nest. The men's tournament was played on a par-71 6,943-yard layout, while the women's course measured 6,067 yards.
Hill (67-68-68-203), Boatner (71-69-70-210) and McKay (73-71-67-211) dominated the individual medalist competition. Other SHSU finishes included fifth place by J.T. Taylor (72-72-71-215) and eighth place by Albert Miner (71-72-74-217).
"I was proud of the guys for how well they played and managed their games," Bearkats golf coach Brandt Kieschnick said. "We shot 15 under as a team and that shows the guys know how to make birdies, but also they know how to minimize mistakes.
"Micah went low, and Justin, Albert, J.T. and Logan played solid right behind him," added the coach, who was hired this summer and is coaching his first season at his alma mater. "All the guys are playing well and this is a sweet first win."
Since the fall season started last month in Mississippi, the Bearkats have been getting better each time out. The SHSU men's team finished 10th at the Southern Mississippi Sam Hall Intercollegiate last month and Minor placed eighth in the individual standings.
Last week, the Kats placed fifth in a strong 14-team field at a tournament hosted by Louisiana Tech. McKay fired rounds of 73, 67 and 68 for a third-place finish.
And this week, Kieschnick's Kats won lots of hardware at their only home tournament of the 2012-13 season.
"I think the first two weeks were huge with Albert Miner playing well at Southern Miss, Justin McKay having a chance to win at Louisiana Tech, shooting 9 under the final two rounds and the team shooting low the last two rounds at La. Tech. We carried that into this week and we have a new confidence," the coach said.
"I couldn't be happier with Micah Hill's first Division I individual title," Kieschnick added. "He kept his head down and went through each shot like it was his last shot and he just ran out of holes. When he looked up, he won by seven shots."
North Dakota State (877) was the team runner-up in the men's field followed by Tyler Junior College (897), Texas-Pan American (903), Jacksonville CC (914) and Texas Southern (984).
On the women's side, Wallis Spears (68-71-79-218) placed second and Jessica Tamen (71-75-73-219) was third as they led St. Edward's to the team title with a 290-297-297-884 total.
Vanessa Johnson of A&M-Corpus Christi (69-72-73-219) won the women's individual medalist championship. A&M-Corpus Christi finished five strokes back with an 889.
Sam Houston was third at 892 followed by Lamar 898, Houston Baptist 915, Western Texas CC 942, Tyler JC 947, Alabama State 956, Texas-Pan American 977, New Orleans 1104 and Jacksonville CC 1163.
Nicole Budnik (71-73-77-221) was Sam Houston's top individual finisher with an eighth-place finish. Shelby Hardy was eighth (75-72-75-222), Meghan Musk (75-75-76-226) and Jessica Borth (76-78-72-226) 15th and Jenna Stene 24th (79-75-79-233).
"The SHSU women had another good week," Kieschnick said. "We were right there with a good chance to win. This is a really talented women's team and coach (Tommy) Chain had them in the hunt for the third straight week."
