The Charlotte 49ers posted the third-best score of the final round to finish in fourth-place at Iowa's 11-team Hawkeye-Great River Entertainment Invitational, Sunday.  It was the 49ers sixth top five finish of the season, and their second straight this spring.

With freshman Raoul Menard firing one-under par 71 and senior Olafur Loftsson shooting even-par, 72, the 49ers shot four-over par, 292.  Only frontrunners Iowa and Iowa State, who finished 1-2 in the event, shot better than the 49ers.

"We knew the conditions would be more difficult with the wind," said 49ers head coach Ryan Cabbage.  "For Raoul to start with a double bogey and battle back was pretty impressive.  He had a pretty good event.  It say alot about his game.  He'd be the first to admit he didn't have his best stuff -- but to have a good result, even without it -- it's a credit to him."

Iowa won the event at 24-under par, two strokes ahead of runner-up Iowa State (-22, 842).  Charlotte was fourth at 10-over par, four strokes behind third-place Penn State (+6, 870).  Charlotte shot six strokes better than Penn State to close the gap and bested Washington State by 8 strokes, to pass them and drop them into fifth place.

Menard led the 49ers at one-over par 217 over the 54 holes, finishing 16th overall.  Loftsson moved into the top 25 at 3-over par 219, to tie for 21st.  Seniors Rafael Guerrero (72-74-75) and Tyler Mitchell (73-74-74) finished 28th at five-over par, 221.  Paul Ferrier added a seven-over par 223.

"Oli continues to do good things," Cabbage added.  "He's so much funn to watch play.  He keeps doing the things that are his strengths -- and I'm excited for him as he goes into the A-10 Championship."

This was the 49ers last outing prior to the Atlantic 10 Championships.

"I think we are playing better -- we're moving in the right right direction," Cabbage noted as the team prepares to defens its string of six straight A-10 titles.  "We need to continue to prepare and work on the correct things.  We're looking forward to getting to Heron Bay and we be the most prepared team there."

49ers Scores: 

Olafur Loftsson	+3	E	E	F
Tyler Mitchell	+1	+2	+2	F
Paul Ferrier	-1	+5	+3	F
Raoul Menard	E	+2	-1	F
Rafael Guererro	E	+2	+3	F

 

 TEAM SCORES:

1	27 Iowa	-24	F	-4	282	274	284	840
2	Iowa State	-22	F	-8	283	279	280	842
3	Penn State	+6	F	+10	284	288	298	870
4	Charlotte	+10	F	+4	288	294	292	874
5	Washington State	+14	F	+12	293	285	300	878
6	Minnesota	+20	F	+11	293	292	299	884
7	Missouri-Kansas City	+21	F	+9	299	289	297	885
8	Michigan State	+22	F	+6	298	294	294	886
9	Wisconsin	+24	F	+10	302	288	298	888
10	Nebraska	+25	F	+18	292	291	306	889
11	Miami of Ohio	+31	F	+10	294	303	298	895