Huskies finish 11th at National Tournament

Over the weekend, the Washington men's golf team looked to make a national impact at the National Invitational Tournament. With only two more events before the Pac-10 Championships, the annual tournament held in Tucson, Ariz. was a great chance to do some damage.

But the game is never that easy, as the men finished in the 11th spot out of 15 teams. The five golfers the UW sent to the desert combined for a score of 872 -- 8-over par.

In contrast, another Pac-10 team, UCLA, finished in first, going to the clubhouse with a score of 851.

The course was not friendly for two of the Washington golfers, senior James Lepp and freshman Kellen Eakin, who both finished far above par at 14-over and 19-over, respectively. Also on the wrong side of even was freshman John Wise, who before the final day was just plus one, but fell to 4-over by the end.

For Eakin and Wise, the invitational was their debut at the varsity level.

"I'm proud of John," coach Matt Thurmond told GoHuskies.com. "It was his first varsity round and he came out and played really well. It's been a lot of fun having both John and Kellen on the trip. It's great to have them here because they bring a lot of energy to the team -- a lot of enthusiasm and excitement."

Despite the troubles of their teammates, juniors Erik Olson and Alex Prugh finished in what amounted to a five-way traffic jam at No. 2 overall. Two Arizona State golfers and one UCLA golfer joined them with scores of 5-under 211. The second place finishers fell one shot shy of the individual winner, New Mexico's Jay Choi.

Prugh, who is in his second year on the golf team, took ninth place on the second day, and jumped seven spots to lock himself into the second place tie. He shot a 2-under responding to a 1-over on day two, and took advantage of some of his competition giving ground.

Olson did his teammate one better by scoring a third-round 69, the third-best score of the day. After hovering around par for the majority of day one and two, his 3-under moved him into the tie with Prugh and the others.

"To have two guys finish in second place is pretty awesome for us," Thurmond told GoHuskies.com. "Both guys have been up and down a little bit this year. To see them come together and play like they did bodes really well for our team."

For Lepp, the reigning NCAA individual champion, the course at the National Invitational Tournament proved to be a frustrating opponent. The senior shot 5-over both of the first two days and ended the tournament with a plus four, finishing No. 76 overall.

While these five golfers were enjoying the sun in Tucson, four others were in action on the links as well. Sophomores Joe Panzeri, Sterling Clark and Zach Bixler and senior Seth Yates were sent with assistant coach Jon Reehoorn to the Duck Invitational in Oregon.

Panzeri shot a 6-under to tie for medalist honors. His 66 was a career low.

Reach Daily reporter Justin Chartrey at [url='mailto:justinchartrey@thedaily.washington.edu']justinchartrey@thedaily.washington.edu[/url]