STATESBORO, Ga. - The FGCU men's golf team entered the weekend with a chance to reverse its recent Golfstat.com ranking fortune at the Schenkel Invitational, finishing tied for ninth Sunday.

No. 75 FGCU tied No. 43 Notre Dame with an 14-over-par 878 final team score. On Saturday, the Eagles posted its event-best and fifth-lowest round-two effort of the 14-team field, a one-under 287, to climb up to ninth place.

Tournament host and No.19 Georgia Southern won the team title at 27-under-par 837. No.24 Mississippi State placed second at 16-under 848.

Georgia Southern's No. 83 Ben Carr captured the individual crown for the Eagles as well, shooting under or even par all three rounds to finish 8-under 208.

"I'm really proud of our team," said FGCU men's golf head coach Andrew Danna. "We found some consistency over the last two days. We'll look to carry that momentum into practice and our next event in Texas."

Fifth-year Jon Hopkins (Bishop's Stortford, England/Hockerill Anglo-European College/Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) and freshman Sam Baker (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet HS) were the only two Eagles to finish in red numbers Sunday, as both fired one-under 71s in their final round.

Junior Austin Cherichella (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona HS) paced the Eagles starting five, finishing tied for 24th. Hopkins entered the clubhouse tied for 28th, and Baker tied for 59th after improving each round.

Cherichella's 3-under 69 on Saturday helped him climb 21 spots on moving day, and marked his team-leading 11th under-par round. Cherichella also cashed in on a par-5 eagle during his Saturday round-two performance. On Sunday, he closed with a 75.

Saturday saw more Eagle splendor, as Hopkins drilled a hole-in-one on the 130-yard sixth hole -- the first ace of the season for FGCU. Hopkins also improved the most among the Eagle starting five, cutting eight strokes from his opening-round 78. Hopkins was the only Eagle to card two even- or under-par rounds during the tournament.

As a team, FGCU tied for first in par-3 scoring along with No. 45 North Florida and a top-25 Mississippi State squad, and tied for fourth in made pars with 167.

Junior Thomas Salanito (Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic) led the Green & Blue in pars, sinking 37.

FGCU returns to the links April 10-11 for its last regular-season event -- The Aggie Invitational hosted by Texas A&M in Bryan-College Station, Texas. 

Last season, FGCU men's golf made athletic department history by earning the FGCU's first-ever at-large bid into a NCAA Tournament event.

For complete coverage of FGCU men's golf, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram @FGCU_MGolf, Facebook FGCU Men's Golf), and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. Eagles fans can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's golf and all 15 sport programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

FGCU STARTING FIVE:

TEAM LEADERBOARD:

HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA
Danna is in his fourth year at the helm of the men's golf program with the Eagles earning FGCU's first-ever NCAA Tournament at-large berth in department history during the 2022 season. He has led the Eagles to second-place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 ASUN Championships and was named the program's first-ever ASUN Coach of the Year (2021) and repeated in 2022. One of the best turnarounds in NCAA history saw the Green and Blue, led by Van Holmgren who became the first player to earn PING All-Region honors, jump from No. 257 in the final 2019-20 GolfStat.com rankings to a then program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. The Eagles set a new program-best during the 2022 season at No. 47 in the GolfStat.com rankings. Holmgren won the ASUN Championship individual title to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. Before taking over in Fort Myers, he served the 2018-19 season as the assistant at LSU. Prior to that he was the ultra-successful head coach for six years at Lynn University where he led them to the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship and was, subsequently, chosen the David Williams National Coach of the Year. He also led the Fighting Knights to three national runner-up placements, with a third and eighth place finish in his other two seasons.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.   

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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