April 18, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Despite battling gusty wind conditions, 40th-ranked Northwestern finished strong at the Kepler Intercollegiate Invitational, posting Sunday's third-best team score -- an 8-over 296 -- to finish fifth among 18 teams at the 35th annual event. The tournament was played on Ohio State's par-72, 7,141-yard Scarlet Course.
With the exception of the host Buckeyes, the Wildcats placed ahead of every Big Ten team entered in the tournament. (Every Big Ten team was entered in this tournament with the exception of 11th-ranked Minnesota.) Ohio State finished in a third-place tie, just two strokes in front of Northwestern. The 'Cats finished a stroke in front of both Indiana and Illinois, three strokes ahead of Purdue and six strokes ahead of Penn State.
Xavier held off a late-charge from Kent State to win the tournament by three strokes.
Senior Tom Johnson (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo) rebounded from a sub-par Saturday to post a 1-under 71 -- one of the third round's best scores. He finished with a 7-over 223 (74-78-71) for the tournament, good enough for 13th place. It was Johnson's sixth top-15 finish this year.
Junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) placed 11th, with a 5-over 221 (75-72-74). It was his fourth top-15 finish this year. He placed a season-best eighth two tournaments ago at the Furman Invitational.
Freshman David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union), who was in 28th place after the first two rounds, finished in that same spot with an 11-over 227 (77-74-76).
Senior, T.C. Ford (Covington, La./Mandeville), finished 37th overall with a 13-over 229 (77-74-78). NU's third senior, Casey Strunk (Phoenix, Ariz./Thunderbird), also bounced back from a rough Saturday and posted a 3-over 75 on Sunday to finish 90th (82-84-75=241).
The Wildcats will rest next weekend before returning to action May 1-2 at the Fossum Spartan Intercollegiate in East Lansing, Mich. The Big Ten Championships follow on May 7-9 at the University of Michigan.
FINAL RESULTS Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
OSU Scarlet Course Columbus, OH
** Playoff Winner Dates: 04/17 - 04/18 (Today:04-18-2004)
Par: 72
Yardage: 7141
Fin. School Scores
1 Xavier University 288 297 301 886 +22
2 Kent State 300 296 293 889 +25
3 Ohio State Univ. 295 299 301 895 +31
Toledo, U. of 294 295 306 895 +31
5 Northwestern 303 298 296 897 +33
6 Indiana University 299 301 298 898 +34
Illinois, U. of 307 297 294 898 +34
8 Purdue University 304 296 300 900 +36
9 Penn State U. 310 290 303 903 +39
10 Kansas State Univ. 297 303 307 907 +43
11 Michigan State U. 303 303 304 910 +46
Ball State Univ. 297 306 307 910 +46
13 Iowa, U. of 300 313 305 918 +54
14 Michigan, U. of 308 311 303 922 +58
15 Miami (Ohio) 304 305 314 923 +59
16 Eastern Michigan U. 305 316 304 925 +61
17 Marshall University 304 313 314 931 +67
18 Wisconsin, U. of 313 313 307 933 +69
FINAL RESULTS Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
OSU Scarlet Course Columbus, OH
** Playoff Winner Dates: 04/17 - 04/18 (Today:04-18-2004)
Par: 72
Yardage: 7141
Fin. School Scores
1 Xavier University 288 297 301 886
3 John Streibich 69 73 73 215
T 7 Miles Maillet 72 74 74 220
T 22 Andy Pope 72 77 77 226
T 28 Neal Grusczynski 76 73 78 227
T 37 Jason Kokrak 75 77 77 229
2 Kent State 300 296 293 889
** 1 Ryan Yip 67 74 73 214
T 4 Peter Laws 72 72 72 216
T 46 Marc Bourgeois 83 74 73 230
T 74 Sean Howell 81 80 75 236
T 87 Joe Hurtuk 80 76 84 240
T 3 Ohio State Univ. 295 299 301 895
6 Zach Doran 72 73 73 218
T 22 Colin Biles 75 73 78 226
T 22 Brett Williams 74 77 75 226
T 37 Kevin Hall 74 76 79 229
T 57 Scott Anderson 79 78 75 232
T 3 Toledo, U. of 294 295 306 895
2 Brad Heaven 69 72 73 214
T 17 Justin Bertsch 75 72 78 225
T 46 Richard Kilpatrick 75 78 77 230
T 53 Doug Batty 75 75 81 231
T 57 Tyler Riley 78 76 78 232
5 Northwestern 303 298 296 897
11 Dillon Dougherty 75 72 74 221
13 Tom Johnson 74 78 71 223
T 28 David Merkow 77 74 76 227
T 37 T.C. Ford 77 74 78 229
90 Casey Strunk 82 84 75 241
T 6 Indiana University 299 301 298 898
T 4 Jeff Overton 74 73 69 216
T 7 Heath Peters 72 71 77 220
T 57 Brad Marek 77 77 78 232
T 62 Ryan Cassidy 78 80 75 233
T 62 Scott Seibert 76 80 77 233
T 6 Illinois, U. of 307 297 294 898
T 7 Joe Affrunti 76 74 70 220
T 17 Garrett Chaussard 77 75 73 225
T 22 Patrick Nagle 76 77 73 226
T 46 Ryan Tendall 78 74 78 230
T 70 Mike O'Neal 81 74 80 235
8 Purdue University 304 296 300 900
T 14 Shiv Kapur 74 74 76 224
T 22 P. Junhasavasdikul 74 74 78 226
T 33 Peter Richardson 81 72 75 228
T 37 Dustin Cone 82 76 71 229
T 62 Johan Edin 75 80 78 233
9 Penn State U. 310 290 303 903
T 14 Jason Pannone 78 70 76 224
T 28 Ted Neville 75 73 79 227
T 28 Marco Poccia 80 71 76 227
T 37 Greg Pieczynski 78 76 75 229
T 62 Mark Leon 79 78 76 233
10 Kansas State Univ. 297 303 307 907
T 14 Aaron Watkins 72 75 77 224
T 33 Ben Kern 74 76 78 228
T 46 Tim Moody 74 77 79 230
T 57 Matt VanCleave 79 80 73 232
T 80 Josh Persons 77 75 85 237
T 11 Michigan State U. 303 303 304 910
T 7 Andrew Ruthkoski 75 74 71 220
T 17 Matt Harmon 76 74 75 225
T 57 Mitch Pierce 75 79 78 232
T 67 Jimmy Chestnut 77 77 80 234
T 83 Ben Fox 78 78 82 238
T 11 Ball State Univ. 297 306 307 910
T 33 CD Hockersmith 80 75 73 228
T 37 Patrick Wilkes-Krier 73 78 78 229
T 37 Brandon Boomsma 72 77 80 229
T 46 Wayne Denger 77 77 76 230
T 80 Lance Scholl 75 77 85 237
13 Iowa, U. of 300 313 305 918
12 Jon Feldick 71 78 73 222
T 67 Luke Miller 82 77 75 234
T 70 Todd Larson 76 80 79 235
T 74 Cade Pleegenkuhle 80 78 78 236
T 74 Erik Feldick 73 83 80 236
14 Michigan, U. of 308 311 303 922
T 17 Kevin Dore 77 74 74 225
T 28 Christian Vozza 73 75 79 227
T 70 Robert Tighe 82 82 71 235
T 83 Brandon Duff 77 82 79 238
93 Will Kendall 81 80 85 246
15 Miami (Ohio) 304 305 314 923
T 37 Mark Weghorst 78 75 76 229
T 46 Mike Calkin 73 78 79 230
T 53 Matt Thomas 79 75 77 231
T 67 Ryan Swelin 74 78 82 234
86 Brent Kriegshauser 79 77 83 239
16 Eastern Michigan U. 305 316 304 925
T 22 Korey Mahoney 74 80 72 226
T 53 Kevin Ackford 77 78 76 231
T 62 Tyler McDannold 77 79 77 233
T 74 Matt Hiatt 78 79 79 236
T 87 Thomas Shelton 77 81 82 240
17 Marshall University 304 313 314 931
T 17 Shawn Warren 80 73 72 225
T 33 Burke Spensky 75 77 76 228
T 83 Ben Minyard 73 82 83 238
91 Brad Tweel 76 83 83 242
95 Steve Ross 85 81 87 253
18 Wisconsin, U. of 313 313 307 933
T 46 Garrett Jones 78 80 72 230
T 53 Kevin Tassistro 75 78 78 231
T 70 Ryan Conn 80 74 81 235
T 80 Brian Brodell 80 81 76 237
96 T.J. Blakemore 84 90 88 262
Fin. Individuals School Scores
T 37 Nate Strong Ohio State 77 78 74 229
T 74 Zack Randol Ohio State 79 77 80 236
T 74 Peter Riddell Ohio State 77 80 79 236
T 87 Ryan Hurley Ohio State 83 77 80 240
92 Jared Jones Ohio State 84 76 83 243
94 David Bieterman Ohio State 79 82 88 249
WD Justin Collins Ohio State WD WD WD
