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May 3, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

University of Wyoming junior David Hearn shot a final round of 75 on Wednesday to finish in a tie for eighth place at the 2000 Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship played in Palm Desert, Calif.

For Hearn it is the second consecutive season that he has placed in the Top 10 at the conference championship. He placed seventh a year ago at the conference tournament.

Wyoming finished in seventh place out of eight teams, shooting a final round of 306. UNLV won the inaugural Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship with a final round of 279 -- the low round of the tournament -- to finish at 845 for 54 holes, 23 strokes ahead of second-place New Mexico (868).

The individual winner was Michael Kirk of UNLV, who finished with a seven-under par total of 209. Wyoming's Hearn finished with a one-over par total of 217.

The other Cowboy golfer to finish in the Top 25 was junior Jake Hunter, who tied for 22nd with an eight-over par total of 224.

Not only were UNLV (No. 9 in the nation), BYU (No. 10) and New Mexico (No. 11) all ranked in the Top 25 entering the tournament, but Colorado State (No. 38) and San Diego State (No. 41) were ranked in the Top 50.

"David (Hearn) and Jake (Hunter) were able to put three solid rounds together this week," said UW men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "But other than the two of them, the course took its toll on the rest of our team. We started well on Monday and actually shot a lower round on Tuesday, but I think we pressed a little bit on Wednesday trying to make up ground on the other teams, and that ended up hurting us.

"If we would have just shot a round similar to our first two days we could have finished at least one place higher -- maybe two spots higher."

Wyoming opened the tournament on Monday with an 18-hole total of 302. The Pokes followed that with a second-round total of 298, but on Wednesday the Cowboys slipped to a final round score of 306 for a total of 906, finishing seventh in the eight-team field.

The 2000 Mountain West Conference Championship was played at PGA West in Palm Desert, Calif., on the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The course measured 6,921 yards and played to a par of 72.

Team Standings

1. UNLV            280-286-279=845 (-19)
2. New Mexico      296-288-284=868 (+4)
3. Colorado State  287-283-300=870 (+6)
4. BYU             296-280-301=877 (+13)
5. San Diego State 308-286-303=897 (+33)
6. Utah            308-297-294=899 (+35)
7. Wyoming         302-298-306=906 (+42)
8. Air Force       309-311-301=921 (+57)

Wyoming Players

David Hearn (Jr., Brantford, Ontario) T8th   70-72-75=217 (+1)
Jake Hunter (Jr., Page, Ariz.)        T22nd  77-72-75=224 (+8)
Reid Lende (Sr., Livingston, Mont.)   30th   73-79-80=232 (+16)
Mike Urbatchka (So., Sheridan, Wyo.)  T37th  84-76-77=237 (+21)
Kevin Kayden (Jr., Fremont, Ohio)     39th   82-78-79=239 (+23)