Sept. 23, 2008

MANHATTAN, Kan.--Firing a 72 in the final round, senior Aaron Crist moved into a tie for seventh place to finish the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at eight-over par 224.

Crist shot rounds of 75 and 72 on the first day. He paced the RedHawks, who moved up one spot to finish in sixth place among the nine-team field, at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate and posted his second top-15 finish in as many events.

"AC (Crist) was great," said Miami University head coach Casey Lubahn. "He's been really steady, believing in himself, playing aggressively and really picking his shots wisely. I think he's maturing as a player, and, in the short time I've been around him, he's shown a lot of growth. He's working hard and it's paying off for him. A finish like that is always good and can make all the difference in tournament."

The teams battled significant wind throughout the tournament, resulting in some higher scores tournament-wide. Host Kansas State won the tournament by a 17-stroke margin, while KSU's Mitchell Gregson captured individual medalist honors, shooting an even-par 216.

"Today was rough. It was a continuation of yesterday," added Lubahn. "The wind was blowing pretty hard, and it was tough. We didn't hang in there like would probably could have, and we'll use this as a learning experience on things we need work on throughout the semester."

Sophomore Nathan Sutherland recorded a 79 in the final round to place him in a tie for 36th place at 22-over par 238. Sophomore Michael Drobnick also finished in a tie for 36th place, recording an 80 for the final 18 holes.

Senior Ben Wood shot a 79 on Tuesday and finished in a tie for 39th place at 23-over par 239, while senior Ben Bastel had a final-round score of 82 and finished in a tie for 44th place at 25-over par 241.

"This course allowed us to identify some real weaknesses--preparation, mental execution, decision making--and the good news is there are a lot of lessons to take from this and build upon," said Lubahn. "Hopefully, we will be able to implement some things very quickly and play better next week. This team has enough fight in them that I am confident that they will come out fighting next week and be stronger than ever."

Miami returns to action Sept. 29-30 at the St. Mary's Invitational in Pebble Beach, Calif.

t-7  Aaron Crist           75 77 72 224
t-36 Nathan Sutherland     84 75 79 238
t-36 Michael Drobnick      80 78 80 238
t-39 Ben Wood              83 77 79 239
t-44 Ben Bastel            80 79 82 241

1 Kansas State         294 299 290 883
2 UMKC                 308 294 298 900
3 Western Illinois     310 312 288 910
4 Wichita State        304 308 302 914
5 Oral Roberts         309 315 306 930
6 Miami                318 307 310 935
7 Florida Gulf Coast   318 314 308 940
8 Missouri St.         306 313 326 945
9 Army                 324 318 319 961

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