May 17, 2008

Complete Results

HOUSTON, Texas - Playing his final collegiate round, Western Washington University senior Sean Packer (Sumner/Auburn Riverside) finished in a five-way tie for third place, just one stroke behind the leaders, and the Vikings tied for eighth in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships which ended Saturday at the Memorial Park Golf Course.

Packer's placing was the second highest in school history and the best since Western's Bill Wright won the NAIA National Championship in 1960. Packer finished the four-day, 72-hole tournament at 1-under 279, shooting a final-round, even par 70 after posting 69s on each of the first two days and having a 71 on Friday.

Tied for fourth entering the final round, Packer played the back nine first and had three straight bogeys on the middle three holes, but regrouped with two pars and a birdie on No.18.

On the front nine, Packer birdied No.3 and No.5 to go 1-under after narrowly missing birdies on No.1 and No.2. With four holes to play, one birdie would have put him a playoff for the national title and two would have given him the championship outright.

Packer finished with four pars, just missing a 10-foot bender for birdie on No.7 and having a straight, uphill 25-foot birdie putt come up nine inches short on No.8.

Packer tied for third with West Florida's Matthew Galloway (71) and Kyle Scott (72), Sonoma State's Jarin Todd (66) and Erick Justesen (69) from Cal State Stanislaus.

"What an incredible performance for your final event to be the only player on the course for the final four holes with a chance to win," said Western coach Steve Card. "He gave himself opportunities on three of those holes and just couldn't get the putts to fall. To pull those shots off at the end showed a tremendous amount of character."

"His last 12 holes was an unbelievable stretch of golf. Given the pressure, to make no mistakes, no blemishes on the card, was absolutely incredible."

Florida Southern's Jude Eustaquio (68) and Jeff Goff (70) from South Carolina-Aiken tied for first place at 2-under 278, with Goff winning in a one-hole playoff.

The Vikings shot a 4-over 284 to tie for eighth place at 1,144 with Indianapolis (289). They were ninth following third-round play and fourth after each of the first two days.

Three teams tied for first at 1,129 in the 20-team field - West Florida (286), North Alabama (274) and St. Edwards TX (274). West Florida claimed the title on the first playoff hole.

"The tension was pretty thick out there and I thought we handled it pretty well," Card said. "We finished just a couple shots out of sixth and 15 out of first."

Jake Koppenberg (Jr., Everett) fired a 2-under 68, the Vikings' best round of the tournament, to tie for 28th at 286. It was the 11th round in the 60s this season for Koppenberg, who had six birdies, three on the final five holes. He finished as the team's scoring leader with a school-record 71.3 average.

Western's Brandon Brown (Jr., Kent/Jefferson) tied for 42nd at 289 (72), Thomas Jun (Fr., Federal Way/Todd Beamer) tied for 77th at 296 (74) and Julian Peters (So., Mukilteo/Kamiak) tied for 89th at 300 (77).

The Vikings were making their first national appearance since 2005.

Western's best NCAA finish is a tie for sixth in 2000 and its top overall placing is a tie for fourth at the NAIA National Tournament in 1997.

It was the third national tourney for Packer, who placed 35th in 2006 and 81st in 2004.

This was Western's seventh NCAA II national appearance and its18th overall.

The Vikings will host the 2009 national championships at the Loomis Trail Golf Course.

"It's going to be exciting for our community to have the opportunity to see a big-time college golf tournament," said Card.