STATESBORO, Ga. – Posting his best 36-hole total of the season, FGCU sophomore Frankie Capan III (North Oaks, Minn./Northwest Christian HS/Alabama) jumped up four spots into a tie for second following Saturday's second round action at the 41^st playing of the Schenkel Invitational at the Forest Heights Country Club. Capan's play along with a two-under par performance by senior Van Holmgren (Plymouth, Minn./Waysata HS/North Dakota State) held the men's golf team in fourth place entering Sunday's final round.
 
As a team, FGCU shot 287 giving the Green and Blue a two-day total score of 572 – just five strokes behind third place Furman. No. 21 N.C. State continues to hold onto first place with a score of 551, while No. 40 Georgia Southern is second (565). The Eagles' second round score of 287 was the third lowest in the 13-team field on Saturday.
 
The Eagles will begin final round play on Sunday starting at 9:15 AM from hole No. 1 with live scoring available through www.GolfStat.com.

"The team did a good job executing again today," said head coach Andrew Danna. "We are looking forward to another opportunity tomorrow in the final round."
 
Capan's performance on Saturday was highlighted by four birdies and an Eagle to finish three-under par. After shooting one-over through the first eight holes, Capan notched an Eagle on No. 9 before closing out the back side of the course with birdies on three of the last four holes.
 
N.C. State's Benjamin Shipp holds a six-stroke lead in first place after back-to-back 66's for a two-day total of 132. Capan sits in a six-way tie for second though his three-under performance was tied with N.C. State's Carter Graf as the best Saturday round among that group.
 
Holmgren also notched four birdies on the day and shot par-or-better on 16-of-18 holes. After a bogey on No. 4, the senior posted 12 straight holes without going over until a bogey on No. 17 followed by a par on No. 18 gave him a 70 for the day.
 
Sophomore Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) shot 74 to drop into a tie for 21^st. He went into the turn at one-under, but three bogeys on the back nine put him at two over for the day. Junior Brady Madsen (Raymond, Minn./MacCray HS/Winona State) also shot 74 on the day with a similar start as Hopkins on the front nine. On the back side, however, he had four bogeys before closing out the day with a strong birdie on No. 18.
 
Freshman Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS) rounded out the scoring with a 78 but did card three birdies as he sits tied for 67^th.
 
FGCU, ranked No. 83 in this week's GolfStat.com Rankings, are part of a 13-team field which features three top-50 programs and 11 top-100 squads. N.C. State leads the field at No. 21, followed by No. 38 Kentucky and No. 40 Georgia Southern. Just prior to the start of Friday's action, Army had to drop out of the field as a team.
 
Following the Schenkel Invitational, FGCU will have one final road trip to the Furman Intercollegiate (March 26-28) before hosting the Old Corkscrew Intercollegiate on April 12-13 at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero to close out the regular-season. The ASUN Championship will be played April 18-20 at the UGA Golf Club in Athens.
 
FGCU Lineup:
T2 - Frankie Capan III – 69-69 – 138
T13 - Van Holmgren – 72-70 – 142
T21 - Jon Hopkins – 71-74 – 145
T32 - Brady Madsen – 73-74 – 147
T67 - Austin Cherichella – 76-78 – 154
 
Schenkel Invitational Field:
1 - #21 NC State – 272-279 – 551  
2 - #40 Georgia Southern – 275-290 – 565
3 - #89 Furman – 282-285 – 567
4 - #83 FGCU – 285-287 – 572
5 - #92 Middle Tennessee State – 287-295 – 582
6 - #78 College of Charleston – 285-299 – 584
7 - #57 East Tennessee State – 292-293 – 585
T8 - #94 Rutgers – 298-289 – 587
T8 - #62 Campbell – 288-299 – 587
T10 - #126 Memphis – 293-299 – 592
T10 - #38 Kentucky – 301-291 – 592
12 - #77 Cincinnati – 292-309 – 601
13 - #146 Troy – 298-304 – 602
 
 
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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 39 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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