BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by a top-10 finish by senior Nick Sparling, the Western Washington University men's golf team placed 7^th out of 27 teams in the Dixie State Fall Regional Preview played Monday and Tuesday at The Ledges Golf Club.
 
The No. 14 nationally-ranked Vikings carded rounds of 293 (+5) and 284 (-4) in the tournament that featured a pair of frost delays that caused most teams to finish the first round earlier this morning. WWU's two-round score of 1-over-par 577 was just four strokes short of a top 5 finish. In four fall tournaments, WWU three wins and has recorded team scores at or under par in 9 of 11 rounds.
 
"Nick (Sparling) was extremely solid today and his game looks very sharp," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "This group continues to feed off each other. Lots of positives from the whole squad, but there is definitely room for improvement."
 
Serving as a preview for the NCAA West/South Central Regional that will be held in May 2019 at the same course, the Vikings placed in the top 10 of the 27-team field. Chico State won the team title at 25-under-par 551, with host Dixie State placing 2^nd at 14-under-par 562.
 
Sparling (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman/Ohio State) tied for 9^th in the 135-player field finishing at 4-under-par 140. He recorded rounds of 71 (-1) and 69 (-3) for his third top-10 finish this season.
 
Freshman Jordan Lee (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) birdied his three of his last five holes in the first round to finish with a 2-over-par 74, and carried that momentum into his second round carding a 1-under-par 71. The reigning GNAC Golfer of the Week tied for 32^nd place at 1-over-par 145 for the tournament.
 
Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) and junior Ethan Casto (Snohomish, WA) tied for 54^th at 3-over-par 147. Roth shot a 4-under-par 32 on his final nine holes (the front nine) to complete his first round, including birdies on five of his final seven holes.
 
"Cody's finish in the morning round really sparked us for a solid final round," added Bennett.
 
Roth finished with 10 birdies in the tournament, tied for 8^th-most in the field.
 
Simon Fraser's Isaac Lee won individual medalist honors recording a pair of 5-under-par 67s to finish at 10-under-par 134 for the tournament. Chico State's Kelley Sullivan finished 2^nd at 8-under-par 136.
 
WWU's individual scores and the complete team leaderboard from the Dixie State Trailblazer/Holiday Inn Fall Regional Preview are as follows:
 

DIXIE STATE REGIONAL PREVIEW The Ledges Golf Club   8 St. George, UT  8  Par 72  8  7,145 Yards
Pos.	Team/Player	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
7th	Western Washington	+1	293	284	577
T9	Nick Sparling	-4	71	69	140
T32	Jordan Lee	+1	74	71	145
T54	Cody Roth	+3	71	76	147
T54	Ethan Casto	+3	77	70	147
T94	Michael Butler	+8	78	74	152
Pos.	Team	To Par	Rd 1	Rd 2	Total
1.	Chico State	-25	273	278	551
2.	Dixie State	-14	290	272	562
3.	Simon Fraser	-10	285	281	566
4.	Colorado School of Mines	-5	283	288	571
5.	Oklahoma Christian	-3	288	285	573
6.	Sonoma State	E	288	288	576
7.	Western Washington	+1	293	284	577
8.	Regis	+2	292	286	578
9.	Cal State East Bay	+4	290	290	580
10.	Concordia (OR)	+5	303	278	581
11.	St. Mary's (TX)	+11	293	294	587
12.	Colorado State Pueblo	+12	292	296	588
	Holy Names	+12	296	292	588
14.	St. Edward's	+13	298	291	589
15.	Dominican (CA)	+14	295	295	590
16.	Hawai'i Hilo	+15	299	292	591
17.	Colorado Christian	+16	304	288	592
18.	Cal State San Bernardino	+17	305	288	593
19.	Stanislaus State	+18	300	294	594
20.	Dixie State (B)	+19	294	301	595
21.	Cal State Dominguez Hills	+22	297	301	598
	UC San Diego	+22	302	296	598
23.	Westminster College	+24	309	291	600
24.	Saint Martin's	+25	299	302	601
25.	Northwest Nazarene	+27	302	301	603
26.	Colorado-Colorado Springs	+29	305	300	605
27.	Fort Lewis College	+41	310	307	617

 
The Vikings complete the fall season at Dennis Rose Intercollegiate in Waikoloa, Hawai'i Oct. 29-31, with the three-day, 54-hole tournament played on the Kings' Course at Waikoloa Beach Resort Golf.
 
The complete fall and spring schedule, as well as historical information on the program, can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/MGolf.
 

ABOUT WWU GOLF

The WWU men's golf team has an incredible streak of advancing to the NCAA Championships in each of the 20 seasons the program has competed at the NCAA Division II level dating back to the 1998-99 season, including a 3^rd-place finish at the 2013 national championship. The program has produced 17 All-Americans and has won 8 of 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships since the tournament debuted in 2008. The Vikings have also featured the GNAC Championships individual medalist in 7 of 11 tournaments, including 2018 champion Ethan Casto.