WONDER BOYS EARN ITS FOURTH-EVER NCAA DIVISION II
MEN'S GOLF REGIONAL APPEARANCE; FIRST SINCE 2004

        INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Three days after finishing as runner-up to North Alabama at the 2009 Gulf South Conference Men’s Golf Championships, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys received one of 10 berths from the South Region into this year’s NCAA Division II South/Southeast Super Regional Tournament on May 4-6 at the Robert Trent Jones of the Shoals Course in Florence, Ala.

Eighty teams and 32 individuals were selected to participate in regional competition of the 2009 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships. The top five teams and the top two individuals not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals on May 19-22 at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash. The finals will be hosted by Western Washington University.

Tech, who shot an 869 to finish six shots behind North Alabama at this year’s GSC Championships, earns its sixth-ever appearance as a team into the NCAA D-II Regionals and its first since 2004 when the Wonder Boys shot a 906 and finished seventh at the South Regional in Springfield, Mo. Along with its six NCAA regional berths, the Wonder Boys also qualified for the 1998 NCAA National Championship Meet in Lake County, Fla., where they finished 12th as a team after shooting a 1,224.

Prior to this season only seniors Jarred Carlyle (Nashville, Ark.), the 2009 GSC Individual Medalist after carding a school-record 209 for 54 holes and B.J. Hawkins (Winnsboro, Texas), a member of the GSC All-Tournament Team after finishing fourth at this year’s GSC Championships, had earned regional appearances as individuals. Carlyle qualified as an individual in both 2007 and 2008, while Hawkins earned a regional berth as a individual in 2007.

In addition to Carlyle and Hawkins, other members of this year’s Wonder Boys team are senior Taylor Wallner (Fayetteville, Ark.), juniors Jonathon Spikes (Danville, Ark.), Drew Richards (Prescott, Ark.) and Ryan Hitt (Allen, Texas).

“I am really happy for this group of seniors and our team that we have earned a berth in the NCAA Regionals,” Wonder Boys Golf Coach Dave Falconer said Friday. “Everyone on the team worked hard for this and it is nice to see them rewarded.”

Tech, who enters regional competition shooting a 295.8 average in 25 rounds of golf and 12 tournaments, is one of four GSC squads to qualify for this year’s South/Southeast Super Regional Tournament. Other GSC teams that earned berths are North Alabama, West Florida and Valdosta State.

In addition to the four GSC schools, the rest of the regional is comprised of Sunshine State Conference schools, headlined by Nova Southeastern, who is the 2009 SSC Champions. The other SSC schools are Florida Southern, Lynn, Barry, Rollins and Florida Tech.

Along with selecting the 10 teams for the regional, the NCAA also selected five individuals from the South Region and those individuals selected were St. Leo’s Cole Cisbani, Delta State’s Brandon Hartzell, West Georgia’s Ryan Chitwood and St. Leo’s Mark McGuire.

Joining the South Region teams in Florence will be 10 squads and four individuals from the Southeast Region. Headlining the Southeast Region contingent is Columbus State. They are followed by Georgia College and State University, Clayton State, the 2009 Peach Belt Conference champion and South Carolina-Aiken. Other qualifiers are Lander, Coker, Barton, the Conference Carolinas champion, Newberry, the South Atlantic champion, Belmont Abbey and Armstrong Atlantic State.

The four individuals from the Southeast Region selected were North Carolina-Pembroke’s Jordan Walor, Tusculum’s Chase Carroll, Mount Olive’s Scott Woodard and Anderson’s Adam Sheriff.

All 20 teams and four individuals at the combined South/Southeast Super Regional will play 54 holes of golf over the course of three days beginning on Monday, May 4. The teams and individuals will have a practice round at the course on Sunday, May 3, one day prior to the beginning of regional play.

Tech played earlier this spring at the Robert Trent Jones Course and shot a 612 for 36 holes to finish tied for sixth out of 24 teams at this year’s North Alabama Spring Classic.    

          -- Tech Athletics --