Mountain Lions Finish Second at NSIC/RMAC Crossover

GOTHENBERG, Neb. - The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs completed a solid-but-uninspiring effort at the NSIC/RMAC Regional Crossover Tournament, which concluded Monday, with a second-place finish.

The Mountain Lions were models of consistency in the tournament, logging team scores of 290, 294 and 290.

But they needed more than consistency to catch Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks rode a remarkable 11-under par second round to take the team title with a three-round score of 867. They beat UCCS by seven strokes despite shooting a pedestrian 298 in the final round.

It was the first time in three tournaments this season that the Mountain Lions failed to take first place. A week ago, UCCS took the top spot in the NCAA Division I Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, an accomplishment that got them named the Golfweek Collegiate Team of the Week.

Colorado State-Pueblo shot an even-par 288 Monday to finish with a three-round score of 883, good enough to catch Western New Mexico and tie for third.

The tournament was the second of four that will determine the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship, an honor held by UCCS the past five seasons. The first-place finisher in each of the four tournaments receives nine points, second place gets eight, etc.

After the first two tournaments, Fort Lewis and UCCS are tied with 17 points each. Colorado State-Pueblo is third with 12, followed by Colorado Mines (11), Mesa State and Western New Mexico (nine each).

Chris Shoop led the Mountain Lions' final-round effort with a 3-under par 69. He finished at even par for the tournament, tying him for seventh overall.

UCCS' most precise golfer, Riley Andrews, took advantage of the relatively short 6,770-yard layout at Wildhorse Golf Club to record rounds of 69, 73 and 72. The senior finished in fifth place overall at 2-under par.

St. Cloud State's Gordy Diekman led the tournament wire-to-wire, taking home individual medalist honors with a 7-under par 209. He was two strokes ahead of the second-place finisher, Chad Novak of Colorado State-Pueblo.

Spencer Biersdorff was third among UCCS golfers with a 221, a mark that tied him for 17th overall. Brian Morfeld came in at 224, followed by Michael Tilghman at 231.