Sophomore Kyle Vasel improved his day one placement of 15th to a tie at ninth after the final round of the Pepsi/SMS Challenge, leading the Illinois State mens golf team to a ninth-place finish.
Vasel (73-75-73=221) shot a 73 in the final round of the competition, to bring his three round total to a team-low 221. Vasel finished just five strokes behind tournament medalist Jaime Frasier (73-71-72=216), hailing from Murray State.
Junior Brian Anderson (80-72-78=230) was the next highest Redbird finisher in a tie for 37th-place, after scoring a three round total of 230. The rest of the Redbird squad finished in succession with freshman Chris Eddy (76-73-82=231) earning a final score of 231, good for a tie in 44th, freshman Matt Maskel (76-82-74=232) scoring a 232 to finish in a tie at 49th, and junior Dustin Edwards (76-80-77=233) recording a total of 233, and tying for 54th.
In team standings the Birds (301-300-302=903) maintained their day one finish of ninth to conclude the tournament. Illinois State fired a team score of 302 in round three to bring their competition total to 903. The Redbirds beat five Valley foes competing in the tourney, including Bradley University (10th), Southeast Missouri (11th), Southern Illinois (13th), Creighton (15th), and the University of Evansville (16th).
Oklahoma City University (293-293-298=884) took first-place honors for the tourney, followed by Murray State (299-293-295=887) in second, with Northern Illinois (291-301-298=890) rounding out the top three teams.
The Redbirds return to golf action after a break for winter with an exhibition tourney at Interlachen Country Club in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 14-16.
