Herman makes late charge in first MIAA event; Tigers finish 9th

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State men’s golf opened its 2014-15 season on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 8-9) at the Lincoln Invitational in Camdenton, Mo. The event, held at Old Kinderhook Golf Course, marked the first MIAA sanctioned event of four this year. After a tough opening round on Monday, Trey Herman made a charge up the leaderboard over the final two rounds to finish in a tie for seventh individually. FHSU finished ninth as a team.

Herman, tied for 34th individually after the first round, made a charge all the way to tie for seventh by the end of the tournament. He had an opening round of 80, but finished Monday strong with a second-round even par total of 71. That moved him up 10 spots in the standings heading into Tuesday. In the final round, he fired a 2-under par 69 to jump 15 more spots in the standings and tie for seventh overall.

The charge was huge for Herman, who finished second in the MIAA Individual Point Standings last year, just missing Player of the Year honors. By tying for seventh, he earned eight points in the individual standings. Only the top 15 individuals at each tournament earn points, so Herman went from possibly no points in the first tournament to eight with his 15-place leap on Tuesday. Reigning MIAA Player of the Year Travis Mays from Central Missouri finished in a tie for fifth, earning 10.5 points. Eric Kline of Central Oklahoma was the individual champion of the tournament, earning 15 points with an 8-under par total of 205. Herman finished with a total of 220.

The rest of the Tiger team struggled in the first event. Grant Storey was the only other Tiger to card a round inside 80 with a 79 in his second round. Storey bookended that round with an 80 and 86 to finish in a tie for 42nd. Nick VonLintel had rounds of 84, 80, and 82 to finish 45th. Kade Megaffin was 56th with rounds of 97, 86, 89. Billy Frey was 57th with rounds of 91, 94, and 91.

Central Oklahoma was dubbed the champion of the event, even though it tied with Central Missouri in total strokes. UCO won the playoff. Both teams shot 863. FHSU was ninth out of 11 with a total of 977.