April 8, 2008
Mark Richards earned top medalist honors in the Bison Invitational at Shawnee Country Club Tuesday as the Oklahoma Baptist men finished second.
Richards followed his one-under 70 on Monday with a 76 in dreary weather conditions Tuesday for a 146. That gave Richards, a senior from Choctaw, the victory by one stroke over teammate Alex Hamilton and Missouri Valley College entrants Jessie Singh and Raphael Marguery.
Hamilton had a 74 in the first round and a 73 in the second round to climb into second place.
Richards had a strong back nine at times, with birdies on holes 13, 16 and 18. Hamilton had a consistent second round with birdies on holes eight and 15, tying Marguery, Andrew Manley of Southwestern College and Caden McCracken of Southern Nazarene's JV for the top score in the second round.
Jason Carpenter of OBU was 18th at 155 with a 73 and an 82, followed by Arnaud Cotton at 157 with 78 and 79 in 22nd place and Zac Rawls in 33rd with 163 (79-84).
Also for OBU, Michael Allen was 50th at 172 and Jeremy Foster 55th at 180.
Missouri Valley won with a team score of 599, followed by OBU at 605, Southwestern Kansas at 606, Northwood at 612, William Woods at 622, SNU JV at 627, Seminole State at 635, NEO at 648, Texas-Brownsville at 653, Northwestern Oklahoma State at 658 and Western Oklahoma at 702.
Southern Nazarene won the women's tournament with a 676, followed by William Woods at 701, Dallas Baptist at 712, Northwestern Oklahoma State at 735, Southwestern Kansas at 738, Seminole State at 763, OBU at 764 and Panhandle State at 893.
Cierra Boone led the OBU contingent in 13th place with a 180, shooting a 91 on Tuesday after an 89 on Monday. Laura Cummins was 17th with an 88 and a 98 for 186.
Molly Moore was 19th at 187, shooting a 92 and a 95. Heather Brown was 34th with a 211 (106-105).
Next for the OBU teams are the respective regional tournaments. The men play their regional in Lubbock, Texas, April 21-22. The Lady Bison play in the regional at Oklahoma City April 28-29.