Lankford Ties for 5th, Cerqui Ties for 8th, at Pacific Invitational

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

BANKS, Ore. -- A strong second day by the Willamette University men's golf "B" team led with Riley Lankford (Grad., Pilot Rock, OR/Pilot Rock HS) tying for fifth place and Andrew Cerqui (So., Seattle, WA/Bishop Blanchet HS) tying for eighth place in the final standings of the Pacific Invitational, on Sunday, Sept. 18 at Quail Valley Golf Course. The solid performance -- Willamette shot 1-over par 289 for the second lowest team score on Sunday -- also moved the Bearcats from seventh place in the team standings after Saturday's first round into a tie for fifth place overall at 606 (317-289). Willamette shot 28 strokes lower in the second round.

Lankford carded a 36-hole score of 147 to tie for fifth place along with Riley Lynch from Linfield University and Joshua Clogston of Pacific Lutheran University. Lankford shot 76-71, while Lynch carded 74-73, and Clogston shot 73-74.

Cerqui finished just one shot behind Lankford at 148 as he earned part of a four-way tie for eighth. Also shooting 148 were Parker Krovisky of Whitman College, Carson Cirillo from the University of Puget Sound, and Joshua Cross from Pacific Lutheran. Cerqui and Krovisky recorded scores of 76 and 72, while Cirillo shot 73-75 and Cross shot 72-76.

Brenden Borck of George Fox University shot a low round of 8-under par 64 on Sunday to move from a tie for second place after 18 holes to win the individual championship. Borck, who shot a 71 in the first round, achieved an overall score of 9-under par 135 to win by six strokes.

Alex Knox from Whitman took second place at 3-under par 141 (72-69) and Mason Rodewald of Pacific University was third at 142 (71-71). Jack Garnsey of Whitman placed fourth at 143 (72-71).

Jonathan Riley of Pacific, who led after the first round with a 70, shot an 84 in the second round. He dropped into a tie for 21st at 154.

For Willamette, Cerqui registered five birdies in the second round, while Lankford earned four birdies on Sunday.

Also golfing for the Bearcats were Oliver Smith (Fy., San Jose, CA/Pioneer HS), Carlos Cortes Dequidt (Sr., San Diego, CA/Torrey Pines HS), Connor Murphy (Fy., Palm Desert, CA/Xavier College Prep), and A.J. Durzy (Fy., San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS). Smith lowered his score by 10 shots in the second round to shoot 152 overall (81-71) as he tied for 18th. Cortes Dequidt carded a score of 163 (84-79) which was matched by Murphy (88-75), who improved by 13 strokes on Sunday. Durzy shot 182 (94-88).

Whitman won the team title at 583 on the strength of the carding the lowest round each day (298-285). Pacific earned second place at 601 (299-302). Third place was a tie between Pacific Lutheran (300-304) and George Fox (306-298), both at 604. Willamette (317-289) and Puget Sound (310-296) tied for fifth place at 606, with Linfield in seventh at 610 (306-304) and Lewis & Clark College in eighth at 643 (320-323).

The Willamette "A" team will compete at the Bulldog Fall Invitational, hosted by the University of Redlands, on Monday, Sept. 19 and Tuesday, Sept. 20. The 54-hole tournament will be played at Redlands Country Club in Redlands, California.