Feb. 22, 2002

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

The University of Wyoming men's golf team concluded its first tournament of the 2002 spring season on Friday, finishing 18th out of 20 teams at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns Intercollegiate. Wyoming shot a with a three-round total of 906.

The highlight for UW in Friday's final round was senior Mike Urbatchka's even par round of 72, which moved the Sheridan, Wyo., native into a tie for 35th place. Urbatchka moved up seven spots in the final round. Freshman Jonathan Shuss shot a one-over par round of 73, moving him up eight spots on Friday into a tie for 48th.

"We played a solid round today, but it could have been a really outstanding round if we would have finished stronger," said UW head coach Joe Jensen. "We didn't put up quite the score on Friday that we did Thursday, primarily due to the final three holes. The guys lost their focus a little bit on those final three holes, and we lost some ground.

"The thing that is most encouraging to me coming out of this tournament is that over the last two rounds we finished in the top third of the field both rounds. We just have to work on putting together a complete tournament. That will come with playing more competitive rounds."

San Diego State led after each of the three rounds of the tournament, capturing the team title with a 54-hole total of 853. The Aztecs won the team competition by nine strokes over Auburn, 853 to 862. John Lieber of SDSU was the individual medalist, defeating Matthew Koama of Hawaii and Scott Carlyle of California by two strokes -- 207 to 209.

The tournament was played on the Leilehua Golf Course, which measured 6,917 yards and played to a par of 72.

Below are team scores and Wyoming's individual scores following Friday's final round.

Final Team Standings

1.      San Diego State 853
2.      Auburn          862
3.      Pacific         871
4.      UNLV            874
        New Mexico      874
6.      Arizona         878
        California      878
8.      UCLA            879
9.      BYU             881
        Colorado State  881
11.     Hawaii          882
12.     Denver          884
13.     Utah            891
14.     Hawaii-Hilo     892
15.     Nagoya          896
16.     San Jose State  899
17.     UTEP            905
18.     Wyoming         906
19.     San Francisco   918
20.     Hawaii-White    963









Wyoming Individual Results          Cl. Scores       Place

Mike Urbatchka (Sheridan, Wyo.)     Sr. 76-73-72=221 T35th
Jonathan Shuss (Scottsdale, Ariz.)  Fr. 80-71-73=224 T48th
Kurt Kowaluk (Lively, Ontario)      Jr. 80-70-77=227 T62nd
Mike Mezei (Lethbridge, Alberta)    So. 82-76-77=235 T88th
Matthew Brunk (Fort Collins, Colo.) Fr. 81-77-84=242 T99th