Lions Golf Holds Second After Day One of Mountain Valley Classic
ALTOONA, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's golf team had a strong showing in day one of this weekend's Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic at Sinking Valley Country Club on Friday, as the Lions shot 303 as a team to finish the day in second place out of nine teams.
The Lions' 303 is the team's second-lowest score of the young season, and it helped Penn State Altoona to a comfortable second place finish in the day one standings.
Westminster College, the defending Presidents' Athletic Conference champion, was in first place with 300. Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference teams Mount Aloysius College and Penn State Behrend held down third and fourth places, respectively, with scores of 329 and 333. Landmark Conference team Juniata College was in fifth place with 334.
Four AMCC squads rounded out the rest of the group, with Pitt-Bradford ranking sixth with 340, Pitt-Greensburg coming in seventh with 349, Hilbert College placing eighth with 385, and La Roche University being ninth with 407.
Penn State Altoona's starting five was highlighted by Andrew Ferguson (Altoona, PA/Tyrone), who finished the day 1-under by shooting 71 on the par 72 course to tie for first place individually out of 60 golfers. Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) fired a 73 to hold down third place individually.
Iain Murphy-Herndon (Oldsmar, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) made his Penn State Altoona debut in the Lions' five, tying for 11th place individually by shooting 79 in his first collegiate round. Logan Divald (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) carded an 80 to tie for 13th place, and Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park) shot 86 to tie for 30th place.
Three other members of the Penn State Altoona golf team competed as individuals. Nathan Graham (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) golfed his first collegiate round for the Lions, shooting 80 to tie for 13th place individually. Parker Farnell (Ambler, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) also logged his first collegiate appearance, shooting 88 to tie for 38th place. Jacob Carlin (Fayetteville, PA/Chambersburg) finished with an 85 to tie for 26th place.
Play resumes tomorrow, Saturday, September 18 for the second and final day of the Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic. Saturday's round will be held at Summit Country Club in Cresson and hosted by Mount Aloysius, with the day's action starting at 12:30 p.m. with a shotgun start.
Scores from the two-day event will be compiled at the conclusion of Saturday's round, with team and individual champions being crowned for the weekend's competition.
