A 28-stroke improvement by the Wabash College golf team between the first and second round helped the Little Giants to a fifth place finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship over the weekend. The Little Giants opened play on Friday with a 343 before firing a 315 on Saturday for a two-day total of 658.
Wabash was in seventh place after the opening round 343 on Friday. Sophomore Elliot Vice (Ladoga, IN/Southmont) led the Little Giants’ individual effort, shooting an 82. Senior Caleb Selby (Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) finished with an 85, while Kevin Casey (JR/Indianapolis, IN/Cathedral) and J.P. Manalo (FR/Ft. Wayne, IN/Bishop Dwenger) each fired an 88. Aaron Selby (SO/Crawfordsville, IN/Southmont) finished the scoring for Wabash with a 95.
The Little Giants had the third-best team score on Saturday with the 315, propelling the team past Kenyon and Wooster for fifth out of nine teams in the final scoring. Aaron Selby cut 22 strokes off of his first day score, shooting a 73 on Saturday to finish in a tied for 27th individually with a two-day total of 168. His brother, Caleb, was the top finisher for the Little Giants, shooting an 80 in the second round to finish tied for 22nd with a 165. Vice and Manalo also shot 168’s to finish in a tie for 27th place. Casey shot an 82 in the final round to finish with a 170.
The Little Giants improved one place from last year’s sixth place finish in the final team standings. Ohio Wesleyan claimed the 2004 team championship with a 607. Denison was second with a 621, followed by Allegheny (622) and Wittenberg (630). Wooster fell to sixth (659) in the final team scoring, with Kenyon (664), Oberlin (678), and Hiram (708) rounded out the final standings.