PORTLAND, Ore. – After leading the Montana State University Billings men's golf team to a third-place finish at the Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks Invitational, senior Riley Kaercher has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week announced by the conference office on Monday.
 
Kaercher shot an even-par 144 at the two-round event, kicking off the tournament by matching his second-best collegiate single-round score with a 1-under-par 71 on the par-72, 6,958-yard course. The fifth-year Yellowjacket followed with a 1-over-par 73 his second time through the course, tying with four other players for third among the field of 88 competitors. "I'm super happy for Riley to get a well-deserved GNAC Player of the Week award," said MSUB head coach Adam Buie. "Riley had one of the best tournaments of his career coming in third, and shooting even-par on a tough course. He is playing some really solid golf right now, and he has carried his momentum from the fall over into the spring."
 
Kaercher's top collegiate tournament finish included seven birdies and nothing worse than a bogey, and he played the back-nine holes at a collective 2-under-par throughout the event. After back-to-back bogeys on Holes 10 and 11 in the final round, Kaercher rallied to shoot 3-under-par over the final seven holes including back-to-back birdies on his final two holes of the event.
 
The Yellowjackets were the top-finishing GNAC team among the four conference competitors, as MSUB took third place with a two-round score of 588 (296-292). Kaercher was the top-placing conference player among the field.
 
Kaercher's 78 career rounds played are fifth-most in program history, and the 71 marked his sixth-career round of even-par or better. Last week was also Kaercher's first-career top-five finish, which led to his first-ever GNAC Player of the Week honor.
 
The Yellowjacket men, who received votes in the latest Golf Coaches Association of America top-25 poll, are next in action at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational on March 28-29 in Turlock, Calif.