April 12, 2005

NIU Men’s Golf Returns To Action At Nationally-Renowned Boilermaker Invitational

DeKalb, IL – Northern Illinois will compete in its toughest tournament to date when it travels to West Lafayette, IN, to participate in the 12-team Purdue Boilermaker Invitational April 16-17 at the Kampen Course located on the Brick Boilermaker Golf Complex.

Four teams in this weekend’s event are ranked among the nation’s top 40, including the University of Minnesota, which comes in ranked No. 22 nationally by Golfstat. The host Boilermakers are ranked No. 26, while Wichita State (No. 34) and Indiana (No. 40) round out an impressive field. In addition to that No. 40 national ledger, the Hoosiers also boast the Big Ten Conference’s top golfer in senior Joe Overton. Overton is ranked No. 8 nationally by Golfweek and enjoyed a remarkable tournament victory at Xavier earlier this fall (Oct. 12, 2004), which included an 11-under-par 61 in the final round.

Northern Illinois will travel its accustomed starting quintet, which includes juniors Dan Gratton, Nick Schenk and Ethan Roush. Schenk, the MAC’s No. 3-ranked golfer with a 73.17 stroke average, is coming off a ninth-place finish at the Marshall Invitational where he shot a 4-under-par 211 to lead the Huskies to an 11th place finish. Northern Illinois’ top scorer in four of the last five outings (dating back to the fall season), Schenk opened the spring with a runner-up finish at the Pala Mesa Invitational in Temecula, CA, (Feb. 14-15), before tying for 10th at the Kauai Collegiate Cup in Princeville, HI (March 18-19). Overall this season Schenk has finished in the top 10 on five occasions.

Roush and Gratton have been steady contributors in all-eight events leading up to this weekend. Gratton finished second for the Huskies and 38th overall with a three-round 223, and owns a pair of top 15 finishes already this year. Roush has been a mainstay for John Cleary’s team since his arrival as a freshman and led NIU with a tie for eighth at the Kauai Collegiate Cup, which included back-to-back rounds of 68-69 to close the event.

Freshmen Zach Jecklin and Jared Steger will cap NIU’s starting group. Steger has come on strong during the spring and finished a career best 18th at Kauai thanks to a career-low, 3-under-par 69 in the final round. Jecklin was one of the team’s top performers in the fall and already boasts five top-20 finishes in his first season of collegiate golf.

Tee times for both days of competition are scheduled for 8 a.m.

Boilermaker Invitational Field:
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Iowa State
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Northern Illinois
Purdue
Texas-Pan American
Wichita State
Wisconsin

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