STANFORD, Calif. –The Wichita State University men’s golf team could not improve its standing on Saturday and fell short of advancing past the NCAA Stanford Regional.  Rafael Becker tied for 8th in the individual standings and the Shockers finished ninth in the 13-team field at Stanford Golf Course.

   RESULTS: http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/team/static/team3420.html

Becker shot a 3-under 67 in the third round to move into the top 10.  The junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil improved his score in each round of the tournament to flirt with contention for an at-large spot in the NCAA Championship.  He finished at 5-under (70-68-67=205) for the tournament.  The top finisher from a team which did not advance receives that honor and though Becker was in striking distance, Pepperdine’s Josh Anderson – competing as an individual – came away with medalist honors for the Regional and thereby earned the at-large bid.

The weather conditions were again ideal at the 6,272-yard/par-70 Stanford Golf Course.  Wichita State closed out at 2-over (278-285-279=842), putting the team seven strokes back of 5th place, where they needed to be to advance to the NCAA Championship.
 
Louis Cohen Boyer capped a strong freshman season with an even par 70 in the final round.  The Paris, France native turned in a stellar first round, tying for third place then stumbled on Friday before returning to form on Saturday and finishing with WSU’s third-best score.  He finished 2-over (67-75-70=212) for the regional, tying him for 39th place.

Sophomore Calvin Pearson was steady from the start and settled for WSU’s second-best score (tied for 27th overall) at 1-over (71-70-70-211) for the 54-hole tournament.  Pearson eagled the 521-yard/par-5 hole No. 1 to kick off a strong effort on the back nine on Saturday and closed with an even par 70.  

Hunter Sparks recovered from a disappointing second round to record a 1-over 71 on Saturday.  The junior who won the MVC individual championship earlier this month closed at 7-over (70-76-71=217) to tie for 51st.

Tyler Gann contributed a solid 3-over 73 in the final round to finish up at 13-over (78-72-73=223), tying him for 69th.

California, the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, ran away with the team title thanks to an impressive 54-hole total 815 (-25).  No. 14 San Diego State (-19), No. 37 UAB (-10), No. 8 Stanford (-8), and No. 22 UCF (-5) also advanced to the NCAA Championship, which begins May 29.  

The Shockers wrap up a season in which the team captured a fifth-straight MVC Championship and went to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time.  All five WSU participants in this year’s Regional will return next year.