Avalon Lakes, OH. - The Wheeling University Men's Golf team competed in day two of the MEC Championships on Tuesday morning from Avalon Lakes, Ohio. They were able to better their team stroke by one from day one, but in the end, it wasn't enough as they finished 10th and were unable to advance to day three of competition. Three of Wheeling's four golfers either improved their score or stayed pat with their day one performance and gained some confidence as they wrapped up the conference championship event.
Leading the way for the second day in a row was junior Austin Panhorst, who finished in a tie for 32nd overall shooting an 83. He lowered his score by one stroke from the previous day, as he began on the front nine with a bogey on hole one. After that, he got into a groove putting together four straight pars to stay at +1 through hole five. His final four holes would see him add two more pars on holes seven and eight and he finished the front nine at +5 for the day. As he moved to the back nine, Panhorst hit a few bumps in the road, but was able to pick up three more pars to finish +6 for the final nine holes. Panhorst did not compete at last season's MEC Championships and finished four strokes off the mark he set during his freshman season.
Sophomore Nick Zaller was up next and equaled his day one showing when he shot an 85 across the 18 holes. He also began the day on hole one and, after struggling through the first few holes, picked up a birdie on hole five that got him going. He finished the final four holes of the front nine at +2 and finished +5 for the front nine of the event. He got the back nine started off strong with a birdie on hole 10 that started him at –1. He would pick up two more pars on the back nine and sat at +8 for the final nine holes. The sophomore finished two strokes off his best mark at last year's championship event as he continues to improve on the course.
The biggest improvement from day one to day two came courtesy of sophomore Alex Parker, who went from shooting a 97 on day one to a 93 during round two of the event. He had two pars on the day and saw most of his success on the front nine, where he finished at +9. Freshman Ethan Short rounded out the field when he shot a 95 on the final day of competition. Short had three pars on the day and finished his first-ever Conference Championship event with a 186 to place 47th in the field. The young Cardinals will continue to learn and grow from the experience as they head towards their final fall invitational.
The team will remain in Avalon Lakes, Ohio for one more day as they compete in the consolation event running concurrently to the final round of the Championship. Wheeling will be joined by West Virginia State, Concord, and Notre Dame College in the consolation event.
