RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico - Led by freshman Alex Merriman's two-day 8-over-par 152, the Anderson University men's golf team moved up one spot to place sixth at the UIS Island Getaway, hosted by Illinois-Springfield at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Country Club.
The par-72 River Course layout saw the top five teams in the eight-team event remain the same from Monday's opening round, with North Alabama (289-292=581) leading wire-to-wire and finishing 10 shots ahead of second-place Central Missouri (297-294=591). Missouri-St. Louis held on to the third spot after posting a two-round 596, while host Illinois Springfield (310-311=621) claimed fourth by a comfortable 15-stroke margin over William Jewell College (319-317=636). Anderson (323-321=644) improved by two shots and moved past Jackson State (321-328=649) to claim sixth place, with Manchester College (337-323=660) finishing eighth.
Central Missouri's Sam Migdal (72-69=141) was just one shot off the pace in a tie for fourth place entering Tuesday's final round and claimed the individual title after trimming three shots from Monday's first round. North Alabama's Michael Peter (71-71=142) slipped from a tie for first and finished tied for second with Matt Barry (73-69=142) from Missouri-St. Louis. North Alabama's Chris Atchley, who shared the top spot following the first round, tumbled to fourth with a two-day 143, just two shots behind Migdal.
Merriman (78-74=152) led the AU effort for the third consecutive tourney, while jumping from a tie for 17th to the 12th spot with his four-stroke improvement. Junior David Wachter (82-80=162) trimmed a pair of strokes from Monday's opening round and moved from 35th to sharing the 30th spot. Freshman Forrest Fowler carded a two-round 165 and finished in a four-way tie for 35th. Sophomore Rob Warren (82-85=167) dropped five spots and finished in 40th, while fellow sophomore Payton Whitlock posted a two-day 169 and wrapped up the tournament in 41st.
The Trojans are scheduled to open their spring schedule on Feb. 22 at the Cliffs Intercollegiate in Travelers Rest, S.C.
