MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sophomore
Ryan Leach shot a school-record 17-under-par to win his second collegiate tournament in leading the West Virginia University golf team to a 55-under-par team total, also a school record, in capturing the Island Resort Collegiate in Bark River, Michigan, on Monday.
Leach, who won The Stono as a freshman, becomes the fourth two-time winner in school history, and it marks the 11
th time in history a WVU golfer has won a collegiate tournament. Leach set school records of -17, besting the previous mark of -15 set by Mark Goetz, and 199 total score, also eclipsing Goetz's previous record of 201, both set at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate in 2021. Leach finished with rounds of 63-65-71=199 (-17).
The Mountaineers captured the top three spots at the event with senior
Kaleb Wilson finishing one stroke behind Leach. Wilson charged on the final day with a career-best 64 to finish at -16 (69-67-64=200). Sophomore
Nick Turowski took third at -15 with rounds of 66-69-66=201, setting personal-best marks of 66.
Freshman
Jack Michael played in his first collegiate tournament and shot -7 with rounds of 68-69-72=209 to finish in 18
th place. Junior
Harrison Thompson recorded rounds of 74-72-74=220 (+4). Senior
Westy McCabe competed as an individual and shot 6-under-par (70-70-70=210) to finish in 23
rd place.
Playing in this event for the first time, the Mountaineers shot 55-under-par (266-270-273=809) in the 54-hole tournament, setting school records of under par score and total score. The 55-under-par score tied for the 18
th best 54-hole total in NCAA history. WVU's previous best team scores were -28 at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate in 2021-22 and 826 at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic in 2019-20.
West Virginia downed second-place Purdue by six shots. Michigan (-42), Michigan State (-32), Saint Mary's (28), Nebraska (-26), UCF (-22), Illinois State (-19), UTEP (-18), South Dakota State (-11), Ball State (-3) and Miami University (-2) rounded out the team scoring.
"The boys played some inspired golf this week," coach
Sean Covich said. "They put up numbers I've never seen before in my coaching career.
"Coach
Will Koras did a phenomenal job getting the boys ready to play. I'm at a loss for words, just so happy for the guys and so proud of them all."
The Mountaineers will be back in action on Sunday and Monday at The Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minnesota.
