SAN ANTONIO - Midwestern State just couldn't shake off its slow start at the Lone Star Conference Championships played at the Par-72, 7,172-yard Randolph Oaks Golf Course.
 
Paced by sophomore Sam Smith, the Mustangs rallied to their best round of three-day, three-round tournament with a 3-over team total of 291.
 
And that wasn't enough to make a move as Midwestern settled for a ninth place showing as all but one program in the 11-team field fired a sub-300 team total in Wednesday's final round.
 
"The boys were disappointed with the first two days, but bounced back today," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "We'll have to recover and prepare to go to Georgetown, Ky."
 
The Mustangs advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the third time in the school history which will be played from May 2-4 at Cherry Blossom Golf Club.
 
"These guys have overcome a lot this year," Ray said. "Our performance here doesn't reflect the great season we've had."
 
Midwestern has finished in the top half in seven of its 10 tournament this season and in the Top 5 in four of the last five spring events coming into the LSC Championships despite going without two of its five best players from the fall.
 
Smith, a sophomore from Archer City, has been a big part of that and was in the mix Wednesday afternoon as he fired a team low round of 70 (-2) as he rallied from an opening round 86 to finish tied for 38th with a total of 232 (+16).
 
"Sam had a great spring and will continue to develop as a player," Ray said. "He is going to be a big part of our future."
 
Sophomore Raine Copeland (78-75-72) and Jeremy LeGuen (75-76-74) gave the Mustangs consistency this week finishing tied for 24th with a total of 225 (+9), while junior Trevor Arianna (74-79-76) carded a total of 229 (+13) to tie for 32nd.
 
Junior Brett Perry logged two countable rounds and finished tied with Smith at 38th with a total of 232 (+16).
 
Central Oklahoma claimed the conference title by nine strokes with rounds of 284, 296 and 279 for a total of 859 (-9) followed by Cameron (868) and Abilene Christian (870).
 
UCO's Colby Shrum topped the individual leader board firing rounds of 67, 72 and 68 for a total of 207 (-9).
  

LSC Championships
Randolph Oaks Golf Course
San Antonio, Texas
Par-72, 7,172 yards
Team Leaderboard
Place									Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Central Oklahoma	284-296-279	859	-5
2									Cameron (Okla.)	303-284-281	868	+4
2									Abilene Christian (Texas)	296-286-288	879	+6
4									Northeastern State (Okla.)	301-303-286	890	+26
5									Texas A&M-Commerce	302-295-294	891	+27
									West Texas A&M	301-302-288	891	+27
7									Southwestern Oklahoma	308-293-297	898	+34
8									East Central (Okla.)	309-300-291	900	+36
9									Midwestern State (Texas)	308-303-291	902	+38
10									Incarnate Word (Texas)	310-308-293	911	+47
11									Southeastern Oklahoma	324-309-304	937	+73
Individual Leaderboard
Place									Player, Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1									Colby Shrum, Central Oklahoma	67-72-68	207	-9
2									Ben Hargis, West Texas A&M	69-70-69	208	-8
									Casey Nelson, Northeastern State	68-70-70	208	-8
4									Alex Carpenter, Abilene Christian	71-72-70	213	-3
5									Andrew Green, Central Oklahoma	70-76-69	215	-1
									Brady Porter, Cameron	78-69-68	215	-1
7									Josh Creel, Central Oklahoma	71-76-69	216	E
									Trey Lawson, Cameron	76-70-70	216	E
									Jason Timmis, Cameron	76-70-70	216	E
10									Dakota Brown, Southwestern Oklahoma	77-68-72	217	+1
									Aaron Cockerill, Texas A&M-Commerce	73-69-75	217	+1
Midwestern State Scorecard
9									Midwestern State	308-303-291	902	+38
24t									Raine Copeland	75-76-74	225	+9
24t									Jeremy LeGuen	78-75-72	225	+9
28t									Trevor Arianna	74-79-76	229	+13
38t									Brett Perry	81-76-75	232	+16
38t									Sam Smith	86-76-70	232	+16