UT's McAleavey wins MAC golf title

5/5/2008
Ciaran McAleavey
Ciaran McAleavey

NASHPORT, Ohio - Ciaran McAleavey captured medal honors yesterday to help the University of Toledo finish fourth at the 2008 MAC championships at the Longaberger Golf Club.

McAleavey, a senior from Banbridge, Ireland, fired a 4-under par 68 in the final round to finish with a 2-under par 286 (70-74-74-68), one stroke ahead of Eastern Michigan's Peter Sauerbrei (71-71-75-70).

The Rockets' 5-over par 293 was their best performance of the tournament and equaled Kent State for the second best round of the day. UT finished with a final score of 1203 (306-310-294-293) with Eastern Michigan winning its second straight title at 1171 (296-288-299-288). Kent State finished just a stroke behind the Eagles, with Ball State in third place (1194). Bowling Green (1210) was eighth of nine teams.

McAleavey entered the day in a three-way tie for fourth but birdied the first three holes on the back nine to propel him to the first tournament win of his career.

Brad Heaven (2004) was the last UT golfer to win MAC medal honors. Other Rockets to do so were Mike Stone (1992) and Tim Hirt (1979, 1980 and 1981). Tim Rice tied for first place in 1997.

"Ciaran really put it all together today and it was great to see him close out his career with a conference title," UT coach Jamie Mauntler said. "As a team, we struggled in the first two rounds but it was good to see us regroup and battle back to finish strong."

Freshman Ben Boyer tied for 21st at 304 (78-78-72-76). Freshman Nathan Wine (79-82-73-77) at 311 was tied for 32nd along with freshman teammate Jean-Hubert Trahan (79-79-81-72). Rounding out the lineup was senior Justin Hull, who tied for 39th at 314 (81-79-75-79).

Bowling Green was led by sophomore Matt Schneider, who carded a 298 (78-74-71-75) to finish in a tie for 14th.

Jace Walker, a senior, finished with a 301 (73-74-77-77) to tie for 19th. Sophomore John Powers finished tied for 24th at 306 (73-82-79-72).

Others were seniors Russell Goodwin (315, 41st) and Trevor Spathelf (316, 42nd).