May 24, 2002

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. - Rollins College fired a final-round of 4-over par, 288, it's best round of the tournament, to cap a come-from-behind, one-stroke victory over Cal State Stanislaus following the final round of play at the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships on Friday at the par 71, Mission Inn Resort Golf Course.

Rollins finished the four-day tournament with a total score of 1194, one shot better than third-round co-leader Stanislaus (1195). Florida Southern (1196), fired the tournament's best round on Friday with a 3-over par, 287, to finish in third place. Thursday's other co-leader, North Alabama (1202), finished in fourth while South Carolina-Aiken (1203) rounded out the top five. UC Davis, which entered the day in seventh place, shot its best round of the tournament with a 297 on Friday, giving the Aggies a four-round total 1209, good for eighth place. It marked the third consecutive season the Aggies have finished in eighth place at the national championships.

Individually, Chico State's J.J. Jakovac fired a 5-under par, 66, on Friday, the best individual round of the tournament to capture medalist honors by three strokes over North Alabama's Jason Vaughn. Jakovac's four-day total of 285, was one stroke over par. Vaughn (288) entered as Friday's leader, but fired a 1-over par, 73, to finish three strokes back. Francis Marion's Matt Dura (290) and Rollins' Rob Oppenheim (290) finished in a tie for third.

The top UC Davis finisher was senior Jason Boyd, who capped his Aggie career with a four-round total, 298, good for a tie for 15th. In addition to Boyd, Jay Westerlund finished with a 1-under par, 70, giving him a 305 total and a tie for 31st. Scott Gordon (306) finished tied for 34th while Will Johnson (309) was tied for 49th and Eric Restrepo (314) came in tied for 63rd.

"I'm really proud of our guys," said Aggie Head Coach Cy Williams, who earlier this week was named the West Region Coach of the Year. "They played hard all four rounds and fought all the way to the end. We gave it our best shot and came up a little short. I will say that this is the first time at the nationals where looking at the winning team, I think we proved we could consistently compete with them.

"We had a great season," Williams continued. "I think Jason is a very strong candidate for being named the Aggies first-ever first team All-American. Everyone on the team did a great job all year and I couldn't be more proud of a team."

NCAA DIVISION II GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mission Inn Resort Golf Course
May 21-24, 2002
at Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.
Par 71

FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Rollins, 1194; 2. Cal St. Stanislaus, 1195; 3. Florida Southern, 1196; 4. North Alabama, 1202; 5. South Carolina-Aiken, 1203; 6. Cal St. Bakersfield, 1205; 7. Kennesaw St., 1206; 8. UC DAVIS, 1209; 9. West Florida, 1216; 10. Francis Marion, 1219; 11. Pfeiffer, 1226; 12. Central Missouri St., 1227; 13. Ferris State, 1238; 14. Central Oklahoma, 1239; 15. Cameron, 1243; 16. Colorado-CO Springs, 1245; 17. Charleston, 1246; 18. Bryant, 1312.

FINAL INDIVIDUAL SCORES (Top 5 plus UC Davis): 1. J.J. Jakovac, Chico State, 285; 2. Jason Vaughn, North Alabama, 288; t3. Matt Dura, Francis Marion, 290; t3. Rob Oppenheim, Rollins, 290; t5. Bryan Clarke, West Florida, 292; t5. Josh Immordino, Western Washington, 292...t15. Jason Boyd, UC DAVIS, 298; t31. Jay Westerlund, UC DAVIS, 305; t34. Scott Gordon, UC DAVIS, 306; t49. Will Johnson, UC DAVIS, 309; t63. Eric Restrepo, UC DAVIS, 314.