Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
State Farm/MVC Championship
Men's golf finishes second at State Farm MVC Championship
04/22/2008 | 12:00:00 | Men's Golf
April 22, 2008
By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com
MVC Championship Final Standings
PLEASANT VALLEY, Iowa - Junior John Danielson (Marshalltown, Iowa/Indian Hills CC) shot a final-round 2-over-par 73 to finish tied for sixth place, and lead the Saluki men's golf team to a second-place finish at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The second place finish tied the program's highest finish in the conference tournament set in 1990.
Southern Illinois shot a final round total of 9-over 293 at the Davenport Country Club to finish with a 54-hole score of 874, which set a new program record competing in the MVC Championship.
"The team played well, and worked very hard the last three weeks," said head coach Leroy Newton. "We overcame some bad weather to start the spring, but I'm very proud that we finished strong."
No. 31-ranked Wichita State, which was favored to win the tournament, finished the last day with an even-par 284 to finished 2-under overall with an 850. The Shockers placed all five of their golfers in the top 15, including the overall individual champion, Connor McHenry who ended the tournament with a 5-under-par 208.
Illinois State stood in seventh place entering the final day on Tuesday, but shot the second-best final round score of 1-over 285 to finish third, 10 strokes behind the Salukis with an 884.
Drake also moved up in the last 18 holes to edge Evansville for fourth place (898). The Purple Aces stood tied for third heading into the last day, but fell back to finish fifth (899), and Missouri State and Northern Iowa tied for sixth with 54-hole totals of 902.
Creighton fell back to finish eighth (904) after being tied for third in the opening two rounds, and Bradley rounded out the team standings in ninth (921).
All five Saluki golfers finished in the top 20, led by Danielson who finished with a 54-hole total of 216, which tied for the second-lowest three-round total for a Saluki in the MVC Tournament.
"We're happy we came up here and played well, because we were picked to finish fifth and we knew we were a better team than that," Danielson said. "Wichita State is a good team, deserved to win, but we feel we can improve, and want to finish first next year."
SIU will return all five golfers who competed in this year's conference championship, and following close behind Danielson was sophomore Blake Driskell, who finished tied for ninth with a three-round total of 219, and team-best 1-over 72 in the last 18 holes.
Sophomore Jordan Cox finished 11th with a 54-hole total of 220, while juniors Phillip Collier and Todd Obergoenner placed tied for 13th and 20th with three-day scores of 223 and 225 respectively. Southern Illinois concluded the 2007-08 season with five second-place finishes, including the final two tournaments they competed in.
Danielson was also named All-MVC for his sixth place finish, and Cox garnered MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades for his play throughout the year.
It was the first time since 2004 that SIU earned two individual awards from the league office.
"This was just a great year all around for Saluki men's golf," Newton said. "We met our goals of finishing as best we could in every tournament, and did a fantastic job representing SIU."
Players Mentioned
