NIACC men place 5th at own invite

MASON CITY - The NIACC men's golf team shot a season-best 305 Tuesday and placed fifth at the NIACC Spring Invitational at the Mason City Country Club.

Iowa Central and Hawkeye CC both shot 285 on Tuesday and the Tritons won the team title on the strength of their fifth golfer.

"A 305 is our best team score of the year," NIACC coach Chris Frenz said. "So we're definitely trending in the right direction and this is what we have to do to be able to compete in our regional tournament."

Kai Nelles and Jack Barragy both shot 74s to lead NIACC and tied for 10th in the individual medalist competition. Also for the Trojans, Andrew Crane shot 78, Bradley Vaith shot 79, Eric Ritter shot 80, Bryce Malchow shot 81 and Hunter Heintz shot 88.

Hawkeye CC's Tom Bell was the individual medalist with a 67 and Austin Erickson of Iowa Central was the runner-up with a 68.

"Jack Barragy and Kai Nelles continued there solid play," Frenz said, "and I was really happy to see Bradley Vaith and Andrew Crane come through today when it looked like things might get away from them early."

NIACC returns to action Thursday at the Mount Mercy Spring Shootout in Cedar Rapids.

Team standings - Iowa Central 285, Hawkeye CC 285, Iowa Lakes 301, Southwestern 301, NIACC 305, Iowa Central B 308, Waldorf University 316, Hawkeye CC B 325.