May 5, 2006

Indianapolis, IN -- Friday's (May 5) portion of the Mid-American Conference Men's Golf Championships produced a mix of good and bad news as the league summit reached the three-quarter mark.

Northern Illinois University's Zach Jecklin (Bloomington) climbed from a tie for 13th after 36 holes to a share of fifth individually after the conclusion of the MAC tourney's third round. However, the bad news for the Huskies was that day one co-leader Jared Steger (Winnetka / New Trier) slipped down to a tie for 11th and as a team, NIU dropped from a share of fith to seventh-place.

Defending champion Kent State University stretched its inital five-stroke advantage into a 15-stroke cushion heading into Saturday's (May 6) final 18-hole round at the par-72, 6,994-yard Brickyard Crossing Golf Course. The Golden Flashes' surge was a result of having three KSU golfers vault to the top of the individual leaderboard. Tommy Wiegand posted the meet's best round thus far with a six-under-par 68 to move from a tie for third into sole possession of first with a 54-hole tally of 210. Teammate Marc Bourgeois is currently second with a 214 followed by KSU golfer Tom Ballinger at 215.

Ball State University, which shares the runner-up spot in the team race with Eastern Michigan University, has an 873 thanks in part to Brandon Boomsma, who holds fourth place individually with his 216. EMU's Bryan Haase, who shared the 36-hole lead with NIU's Steger, went from two-under to a one-over 217 which has him part of a three-way tie for fifth along with the Huskies' Jecklin and Miami (OH) University's Matt Thomas. Jecklin, who carded a 72 and 74 on Thursday, came back with a one-under 71 to produce his 217 tally.

"Zach really came on strong by hitting some real solid shots, and he capped it all off with a great birdie on 18th despite a really difficult hole location," NIU coach John Cleary said. "As a team we got off to a slow start. Jared wasn't able to putt well today and that hurt. On the other hand, our freshman Alex Wagner had one of his best rounds with a 74. If all our guys can put together one last good round, we can produce a better team finish."

The split between the top three and the rest of the field is evident with the fourth-place crew from Miami (OH) University sitting 23 strokes (881) back of the leader. The University of Akron is fifth at 885 followed by the University of Toledo (886), Northern Illinois (887), Ohio University (890), and Bowling Green State University (899).

For the Huskies, senior Nick Schenk (Batavia) is tied for 29th with a 226 while Wagner's (St. Charles / East) 74 boosted him to 227 for a share of 33rd. Ethan Roush (Decatur / Mt. Zion) rounds out the NIU contingent with a 231 that has him tied for 41st.

MEN'S COLLEGIATE GOLF -- Northern Illinois University in the Mid-American Conference Championships / at Indianapolis, IN / Brickyard Crossing Golf Course / Second-Day 54-Hole Results / Friday / May 5, 2006

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (at Indianapolis, IN / Brickyard Crossing Golf Course / Par: 72 / Yardage: 6,994)

SECOND-DAY 54-HOLE TEAM STANDINGS: 1---Kent State (286-289-283) 858; 2--(Tie)--Ball State (290-290-293) 873 / Eastern Michigan (291-294-288) 873; 4---Miami-OH (289-298-294) 881; 5---Akron (293-293-299) 885: 6---Toledo (291-301-294) 886; 7---Northern Illinois (288-299-300) 887; 8---Ohio (292-295-303) 890; 9--Bowling Green State (303-302-294) 899.

SECOND-DAY 54-HOLE INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: 1---Tommy Wiegand (Kent State) 73-69-68---210; 2---Marc Bourgeois (Kent State) 71-73-70---214; 3---Tom Ballinger (Kent State) 72-71-72---215; 4---Brandon Boomsma (Ball State) 72-73-71---216; 5--(Tie)--Zach Jecklin 72-74-71---217 / Bryan Haase (Eastern Michigan) 69-71-77---217 / Matt Thomas (Miami-OH) 70-74-73---217.

OTHER HUSKIE SCORECARDS: T11---Jared Steger 69-71-79---219; T29---Nick Schenk 73-77-76---226; T33---Alex Wagner 76-77-74---227; T41---Ethan Roush 74-77-80---231.

(For further information, please contact Steve Nemeth) --NIU--