Wednesday, April 16, 1997

Cowboys are American Southwest Conference champs

BROWNWOOD - Hardin-Simmons University is the American Southwest Conference golf champion.

The Cowboys, led by ASC medalist J.D. Rankin, won the 1997 ASC men's golf championship with a final-round 300 Tuesday at the Brownwood Country Club. The victory means Hardin-Simmons earns an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament next month in Tulsa, Okla.

McMurry University, led by Regan King, made a late run at the Cowboys, firing a tournament low round of 293 Tuesday. But the Indians came up four strokes short of HSU. King shot a 2-under-par 70 Tuesday, which was the low individual round of the tournament.

The Cowboys had a four-round total 1,225. McMurry finished second at 1,229. Austin College was third at 1,256.

Rankin, who carded a final-round 72 Tuesday, finished with a 72-hole total of 299. McMurry's Justin Erickson finished second in the individual race with a 304. Eric Montgomery and Ben Bosell of Austin Colelge tied for third at 305.

Team standings - 1. Hardin-Simmons 315-304-306-300-1,225; 2. McMurry 317-315-304-293-1,229; 3. Austin College 321-314-309-312-1,256; 4. University of the Ozarks 376-353-345-340-1,414; 5. Howard Payne 407-377-356-357-1,497; 6. University of Dallas 417-386-388-395-1,586

Medalists - 1. J.D. Rankin, HSU, 80-71-76-72-299; 2. Justin Erickson, McMurry, 77-81-71-75-305; 3. (tie) Eric Montgomery, Austin College, 76-74-76-79-305, and Ben Bosell, Austin College, 76-78-75-76-305

Hardin-Simmons - J.D. Rankin 80-71-76-72-299; Tim Turk 82-76-76-76-310; Paul Briggs 82-77-78-75-312; Chad English 75-80-76-83-314; Wes Stockard 78-84-79-77-318

McMurry - Justin Erickson 77-81-71-75-304; Josh Long 76-79-78-73-306; Regan King 83-81-77-70-311; Jarrod Morrison 81-74-83-76-314; Toby Thompson NS-NS-78-75

Howard Payne - Jeff Armstreeet 88-78-83-85-334; Daniel Berry 95-98-96-88-377; David Canfield 113-97-86-93-389; Trevor Mueller 111-104-95-91-401; David Hilton NS-NS-92-95