By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

PORTLAND, ORE. -- Willamette University improved its team score by 13 strokes on Sunday, Oct. 23, as the Bearcats moved from eighth place into seventh place at the Northwest Conference Men's Golf Fall Classic. The tournament was held on the Great Blue Course at the Heron Lakes Golf Course.

The Bearcats carded a 327 team score in the first round on Saturday, before earning a score of 314 in the second round. WU's overall score was 641 for 36 holes.

Dustin Hegge from the Pacific Lutheran University won medalist honors, as he paced the field of 42 entries with a score of 144 (69-76). Matt Kitto from the University of Puget Sound was second at 146 (69-77).

Two golfers, Scott Martin of Whitman College and Jesse Salzwedel of Whitworth University, tied for third at 148. Martin carded a 77 in the first round and a 71 in the second round. Salzwedel improved by 10 strokes from a 79 in the first round to a 69 in the second round.

A three-way tie for fifth place involving Adam Bean (73-77) and Conlin Riley (75-75) of Puget Sound, plus Alex Fitch (71-79) from Linfield College, followed at 150.

The low round of the tournament was Hegge's 68 on the first day. The lowest score in the second round was the 69 by Salzwedel, as he matched the score recorded by Kitto in the first round.

WU's top finisher was Taylor Mutch (Fr., La Grande, OR/La Grande HS), who tied for 20th place at 157. He lowered his score from an 82 in the first round to a 75 in the second round. Ryan Kukula (Fr., Ocean Park, WA/Ilwaco HS) and William Ferguson (Fr., Arlington, VA/Hartsbrook HS), both from Willamette, tied for 28th at 162. Kukula carded 79-83, while Ferguson tallied 81-81.

Jonathan Ross of Willamette (Fr., Tukwila, WA/Foster HS) improved from an 85 to an 83 on the second day to finish at 168. Jacob Simonson (So., Fairview, OR/Reynolds HS) from Willamette also shot 168, as he improved by 18 strokes from 93 in the first round to 75 in the second round.

Puget Sound took the team title with a score of 593 (288-305) for a margin of victory of 13 shots. Linfield was second at 606 (298-308), with Whitman in third at 612 (315-297) and Whitworth in fourth at 614 (312-302). Pacific Lutheran carded 617 for fifth place (306-311), George Fox registered 633 (322-311) for sixth, Willamette shot 641 (327-314) for seventh and Pacific University placed eighth at 643 (317-326). Lewis & Clark did not field a complete team.

The Fall Classic counts as 25% of the overall conference title, with the Spring Classic providing another 25% and the NWC Championship Tournament adding the final 50%.