SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Junior Mitch Thomas earned a Top 10 finish, firing a final round 69 Tuesday to help the Tennessee Tech men's golf team hold tightly onto fifth place in the 15-team Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate on the River Course of the Sevierville Golf Course.
Thomas followed his first two rounds of 71 and 72 on Monday with his tournament-best on Tuesday to pace Tech. The Golden Eagles shot team scores of 292 and 287 on Monday, and shot 288 Tuesday to maintain their position.
Fellow Ohio Valley Conference squad Jacksonville State cruised to the team title, shooting a sizzling 11-under 277 Tuesday, coupled with Monday's scores of 283 and 292 for a 12-under tourney total 852.
That gave the Gamecocks a nine-stroke win over Southern Illinois and Murray State, which tied for second at 861. SIU opened the day in first place but slipped to a final round 293, while Murray State leapt from fourth place by notching a final round 284.
West Georgia (866) edged Tech by one shot for fourth place, followed by Tech (867) to round out the top five teams.
The second five was led Detroit and Eastern Kentucky, finishing tied for sixth at 870, followed by UT Martin (871) in eighth, Wright State (874) and Arkansas State (875). The field was completed by Evansville (878), Samford (880), Carson-Newman (885), Longwood (888) and Tennessee State (893).
Thomas narrowly missed all-tournament honors, finishing sixth overall at 212 to pace the Golden Eagles. Senior Lee Whitehead and freshman Alexander Riddle tied for 15th, each coming in at 216 with identical rounds of 73-71-72. Junior Adam Cunningham was next for coach Polk Brown's team, placing in a tie for 51st at 225, while junior Bryce Kendrick was 73rd at 231.
Tech had two among the six players competing as individuals in the tourney. Neil Gannaway finished 76th at 236, while A.J. Wilkerson was 77th at 237.
The all-tournament team was headed by individual medalist Tomasz Anderson of Jacksonville State, carding rounds of 69-67-69 for an 11-under 205 tourney total. His JSU teammate Pablo Torres finished second at 209, while the all-tourney team also included first-day Andrew Hall of Carson-Newman and Murray State's Jared Gosser, who tied for third at 210.
Next up for the Golden Eagles is the Arkansas State Red Wolves Intercollegiate, April 4-5.
