EDMOND, Okla. - Midwestern State's strong final round allowed the team to surge ahead four places to finish fifth Tuesday at the UCO/KickingBird Golf Classic.
 
The Mustangs carded a 291 in the third round to finish with a tournament team total of 904 after recording scores of 309 and 304 during windy, chilly conditions Monday at the Par-70, 6,722-yard KickingBird Golf Club course.
 
"We have a young team and sometimes we're not able to find those third and fourth scores," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "Today we putted better as a team and showed what we're capable of."
 
Sophomore Sam Smith finished off his fourth Top 10 individual finish of the season by notching a 3-over 73 in the final round to go with scores 78 and 69 for a total of 220 (+10) five strokes off of the pace of Cameron's Jason Timmis and Central Oklahoma Colby Shrum, who carded matching 215s (+5) to claim the top individual medalist honors.
 
Freshman Jeremy LeGuen and junior Brett Perry delivered the Mustangs' top performances of the day firing 1-over 71s, while sophomore Raine Copeland notched MSU's fourth countable round with a 76 (+5).
 
The Mustangs finished 39 strokes behind tournament winning Central Oklahoma (865/+25) who was followed by Abilene Christian (884/+44), Cameron (888/+48), Washburn (895/+55) and MSU.
 
Individually, LeGuen tied for 20th with a three-round total of 224 (+14) while Copeland and Perry tied for 57th with a 232 (+22). Senior A.J. Pursley tied for 82nd with a total of 237 (+27).
 
"Today's strong finish could go a long way in helping qualify for super regional play," Ray said.
 
The Mustangs next compete in the Lone Star Conference Championships at the Randolph (AFB) Oaks Golf Course in San Antonio from April 18-20.
  

UCO/KickingBird Golf Classic
KickingBird Golf Club
Edmond, Okla.
Par-70, 6,722 yards
Team Leaderboard
Place									Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Central Oklahoma	306-288-271	865	+25
2									Abilene Christian	303-296-285	884	+44
3									Cameron	309-288-291	888	+48
4									Washburn	309-291-295	895	+55
5									Midwestern State	309-304-291	904	+64
6									Colorado State-Pueblo	312-296-299	907	+67
7									Nebraska-Kearney	308-303-297	908	+68
									St. Mary's (Texas)	321-297-290	908	+68
9									West Texas A&M	314-300-295	909	+69
10									Missouri Southern	314-292-304	910	+70
11									East Central	309-295-308	912	+72
12									St. Edward's	314-304-297	915	+75
									Northeastern State	321-301-293	915	+75
14									Southwestern Oklahoma	313-302-302	917	+77
15									Central Oklahoma	312-310-299	921	+81
16									Newman	314-311-298	923	+83
17									Southeastern Oklahoma	316-302-308	926	+86
18									Texas A&M-Commerce	321-305-305	931	+91
19									Incarnate Word	344-309-311	964	+124
Individual Leaderboard
Place									Player, Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Jason Timmis, Cameron	75-69-71	215	+5
									Colby Shrum, Central Oklahoma	74-72-69	215	+5
3									Cyril Bouniol, Abilene Christian	72-72-72	216	+6
									Josh Creel, Central Oklahoma	79-74-63	216	+6
									Baer Aneshansley, Central Oklahoma	77-71-68	216	+6
6									Ben Hargis, West Texas A&M	77-70-71	218	+8
									Austin Weaver, Cameron	77-68-73	218	+8
8									Sam Smith, Midwestern State	78-69-73	220	+10
9									Alex Carpenter, Abilene Christian	77-73-71	221	+11
									Andrew Green, Central Oklahoma	77-73-71	221	+11
									Nate Hoeflin, Washburn	80-69-72	221	+11
									Tyler Sheppard, Abilene Christian	76-73-72	221	+11
Midwestern State Scorecard
5									Midwestern State	309-304-291	904	+64
8									Sam Smith	78-69-73	220	+10
20t									Jeremy LeGuen	75-78-71	224	+14
57t									Raine Copeland	77-79-76	232	+22
57t									Brett Perry	79-82-71	232	+22
82t									A.J. Pursley	79-78-80	237	+27