By Gary Petit

HARROD — The Ohio Northern men’s golf team finished third as senior Chase Cummings and junior Ben Kretz each finished in the top-ten to earn All-Conference honors at the 2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship at the Colonial Golfers Club.

The Polar Bears opened the day in third and made an early move to get within two of the first round leader Mount Union, but ultimatly finished third with a 320 and a 36-hole total of 632. Mount Union held on to win its second straight OAC Championships with rounds of 307-313—620. Otterbein finished second as it cameback to nip Northern by one shot with rounds of 310-321—631.

The third place finish is tied for the best finish in school history. The last time the Polar Bears finished third was in 1992.

Cummings carded a 77 in the second round to finish with a two-day total of 153 and tied for third. The third place finish is the best finish for an ONU golfer at the OAC Championships since Eric Fender finished third in 1988. Cummings shot 77 or better in nine of his 11 tournament rounds this spring.

Kretz, who started the day in a tie for third with Cummings, opened with a 39 and came home in 40 for a round of 79. His 155 total was good enough for a tie for sixth. Kretz and Cummings are the first Polar Bear duo earn All-OAC honors in the same season.

Freshman Phil Makowski followed up his 78 yesterday with an 81 today for a 36-hole total of 159 to tie for 12th. He was just three-shots away from earning All-OAC honors in his first collegiate season.

Senior Wes Immler, playing in his final collegiate tournament, carded rounds of 82-83—165 to finish tied for 22nd. Junior Andrew Rahrig fired rounds of 84-83—167 to round out the Polar Bears scorers and finish 27th.

Heidelberg’s Zach Koinis carded a 75 in round two, which was tied for the lowest round of the day, to take medalist honors by one shot over Mount Union’s Jason Nussbaum. Koinis finished the tournament with a 36-hole total of 151.

“I think the guys had a very successful season,” said ONU head coach Anthony Gholson. “It was good to see Chase and Ben play so well this weekend to earn All-OAC honors. As a team, I don’t think anyone expected us to finish where we did so our guys have to be proud of that.”

With its win, Mount Union will represent the OAC at the 2008 NCAA DIII Men’s Golf Championships.

Team Scores
1. Mount Union 307-313—620, 2. Otterbein 310-321—631, 3. Ohio Northern 312-320—632, 4. Baldwin-Wallace 325-315—640, 5. Heidelberg 325-321—646, 6. John Carroll 328-323—651, 7. Muskingum 340-335—375, 8. Capital 348-335—683, 9. Wilmington 340-348—688.

Top 5 Individual Results
1. Zach Koinis (Heid) 76-75—151, 2. Jason Nussbaum (MTU) 76-76—152, t3. Chase Cummings (ONU) 76-77—153, t3. Ty Lucas (Ott) 77-76—153, 5. Nate Mullen (MTU) 74-80—154.

Ohio Northern Individual Results
t3. Chase Cummings 76-77—153, t6. Ben Kretz 76-79—155, t12 Phil Makowski 78-81—159, t22 Wes Immler 82-83—165, 27 Andrew Rahrig 84-83—167.