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INDIANAPOLIS – Lewis University junior Alex Thode captured the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship in record fashion Monday afternoon at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Thode finished the 54-hole stroke play event at 2-under-par 214 (71-72-71), winning by nine strokes and besting the previous conference record for margin of victory of seven strokes when Indianapolis Justin Hueber’s 209 defeated Drury’s Andrew Funk’s 216 in 2009.
The conference medalist honors are the first for a Flyer since Jason Buffone in 2004. Thode is the seventh Lewis standout to win the conference crown, joining Buffone, Craig Murphy (1994), Steve Schuit (1991), Jason Shook (1990), Tony Trogolo (1986) and Carl Ficek (1984).
Thode’s efforts helped Lewis garner the top seed in Tuesday’s medal/match play format. The Flyers (289-308-300—897) finished three strokes better than No. 2 seed Indianapolis (294-306-300—900), which was 10 strokes better than No. 3 seed Missouri-St. Louis (296-304-313—913). Illinois Springfield (293-322-308—923) secured its first-ever bid to the match play competition and will compete Tuesday as the No. 4 seed.
UIS and Lewis will play each other Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. ET off the No. 1 tee, while UIndy and UMSL do the same off No. 10 tee.
Finishing just outside the top four was McKendree (309-309-310—928) and UW-Parkside (309-308-314—931). Placing seventh and eighth overall was William Jewell (306-324-312—942) and Maryville (313-316-314—943), while Bellarmine (309-320-328—957) and Drury (311-315-333—959) rounded out the top 10. The remainder of the field included Southern Indiana (314-328-318—960), Quincy (308-336-317—961), Rockhurst (314-320-333—967) and Saint Joseph’s, which was unable to complete a round due to two injuries on their five-man roster.
On the individual side, the top-five finishers and ties were honored Monday with All-Conference distinction. In addition to Thode, Illinois Springfield’s Talon Supak finished second at 223 (68-79-76), while UMSL’s Julien de Poyen (72-73-79--224) and Graham McAree (75-78-72) were third and fourth, respectively. McKendree’s Keenai Sampson (79-73-74—225) and Lewis’ Ryan Frederick. (71-79-66) tied for fifth.
Match play competition begins Tuesday off both Nos. 1 and 10 teams. Coverage on the GLVC Sports Network will begin at 7:45 a.m. ET, and will extend throughout the day at
www.GLVCsports.com/watch.