ROUND THREE RESULTS

DUPONT, Wash. – In a field that contains the best men's golfers in NCAA Div. II, Montana State University Billings' student-athlete, Gage Huft, won the individual title at the Saint Martin's Preview Invitational Tuesday.

Huft shot a tournament-low round of 66 in the third and final round. The sophomore finished nine-under-par in the tournament. He entered the second day tied with three other golfers in fourth place. The Kimberly, Idaho, opened the tournament with a three-under-par, 69, in the first round. He followed that round with an even-par 72 in the second round. Huft made 13 birdies and led the field shooting seven-under on par-four holes.

Huft held off Hawaii-Hilo's James Hall by one stroke. Hall was in second after the first day. Eddie DeLashmutt of Colorado-Colorado Springs lost his Day 1 lead, and finished third in the 81-golfer field.

“As far as an individual accomplishment in the program's history, this is the biggest,” MSUB Head Coach Shawn O'Brien said. “Gage just played unbelievably well. I'm proud of the way our team played. We were consistent all three rounds. The competition was incredibly tough, with the best teams in the region here.”

The tournament was played at the Home Course, the site of the 2013 NCAA Div. II West/South Central Regional Tournament which will be hosted by Saint Martin's, Western Washington and the GNAC in May. The field included some of the top Division II teams in the country and in both regions.

Nationally-ranked No. 10, Western Washington, rallied for the team title with a six-stroke edge over No. 17 Grand Canyon. The Vikings' 857 team total claimed the title. Sonoma State, No. 14 Hawaii-Hilo and No. 8 Cal State-Monterey Bay rounded out the top five.

As a team, Montana State Billings finished 14th in the 15 team field. The Yellowjackets shot a 293 in Round 1, a 296 in the second round, and a 294 in the final round. MSUB finished with an 883. Brad Harrelson's 225 placed him 57th. Marcus Drange came in 61st with a 226. Eric Gravbrot (227) and Jacob Letman (241) finished 63rd and 81st.

Nine of the top 10 ranked teams in the West Region were in the tournament. The second, sixth and eighth-ranked teams from the South Central region participated: Colorado School of Mines, CSU-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs. Other nationally ranked teams included Cal State-Stanislaus (#15), Grand Canyon (#17), Colorado School of Mines (#21) and Chico State (#23). Sonoma State, CSU-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs were all receiving votes in the latest poll that was released on March 27th.