EMCC places fourth in Meridian-hosted MACJC golf event at Briarwood; Lions set to host State Championships

MERIDIAN – The East Mississippi Community College men's golf team finished in fourth place Tuesday during the fifth and final regular-season MACJC tournament of the spring campaign.  The two-day event was held at Briarwood Country Club.

Coach Benji Williams' EMCC Lions are now set to host this weekend's (April 18-19) MACJC State Men's Golf Championships at Lion Hills in Columbus.

After carding an opening-round 299 as a team to stand in third place Monday, EMCC came back with a 303 during second-day action to slide one notch to fourth place (602) among the nine-team field.  Host Meridian (295-286—581) stretched its two-stroke, first-day lead with Tuesday's 286 to record a six-shot victory over runner-up Mississippi Gulf Coast (297-290—587).  Copiah-Lincoln followed in third place with a two-day total of 593 (300-293).

Individually, MGCCC's Grant Motter (72-68—140) edged out Grant Renegar (72-69—141) of Meridian by a single stroke by shooting a 4-under-par 68 Tuesday to claim medalist honors.  First-round leader Ryan Desormeaux from Copiah-Lincoln finished in third place with a two-round score of 142 (69-73).

For East Mississippi, sophomore Steven Eilders collected all-tournament team honors by finishing in a three-way tie for fourth place.  After sitting in second place following Monday's 2-under-par 70, the Ridgeland High School product added a 75 during Tuesday's final round to tie with Gulf Coast's George Kawell (71-74—145) and Zack Hammons (73-72—145) of East Central.

Fellow EMCC sophomore Hunter Harmon of Vardaman posted rounds of 76 and 74 to tie for 15^th place with East Central's Tristan Hernandez (74-76—150).  Caledonia's Trent Humber tied for 26^th place with a composite score of 153 (76-77), while Daniel Schroder (77-78—155) and Chase Chitwood (80-77—157) rounded out the Lions' scorecard by finishing 30^th and 38^th, respectively.