Max Kennedy of the University of Louisville men’s golf team won medal honors at the Aggie Invitational at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Tex. The Dublin junior combined rounds of 71, 66 and 72 to edge two rivals by a stroke while also leading the Cardinals to the team crown.
“Max continues to show why he is great,” said Ryan Blagg, Louisville head coach. “This win was inevitable for him. He outworks his opponents and does everything the right way.”
Kansas State’s Luke O’Neill tied for sixth place in the Tiger Intercollegiate at the Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo. The Galway junior posted rounds of 66, 70 and 69 to finish the event 11 strokes under par and 11 in back of the medalist, Illinois’ Jackson Buchanan. Also in the field were Marquette’s Josh Robinson, a senior from Lisburn, Co. Antrim, who finished joint-41st at even-par 216 (73-72-71), Rory Milne, a Louisiana-Monroe sophomore from Waterford, who took a share of 55th place at 220 (74-74-73), and Arkansas State’s Jack Madden, a senior from Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, who shot 221 (74-78-71) to tie for 59th place.
Chattanooga’s Paul Conroy, a sophomore from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, took joint-fifth place in the Hoosier Collegiate at the University of Indiana’s Pfau Course in Bloomington. Conroy signed to rounds of 70, 73 and 72, which left him four strokes behind Murray State’s Jay Nimmo, the medalist. The Mocs, with four top-10 finishes, won the team crown. DePaul’s Conor Glennon, a senior from Glasson, Co. Westmeath, tied for 42nd place, having shot rounds of 78, 77 and 76.
Sam Murphy of Grand Canyon University earned a share of 17th place in the El Macero Classic at El Macero Country Club in El Macero, Calif. The Galway sophomore shot 72, 69 and 74 to finish 54 holes a stroke under par and 11 off the low number. Teammate Josh McCabe, a sophomore from Malahide, Dublin, tied for 58th place at 223 (73-75-75).
Mark Devlin, a Luther College sophomore from Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, took ninth place in the DIII Showcase at the French Lick Resort’s Donald Ross Course in French Lick, Ind. He led early with a first-round 68 but could only knock out rounds of 77 and 79 thereafter. Luther won the team title.
WOMEN’S GOLF
Aine Donegan of Louisiana State got third place in the Southeastern Conference championship tournament at Greystone Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala. The sophomore from Ennis, Co. Clare combined rounds of 72, 71 and 71 to finish the event two strokes under par and two off the winning standard of Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez. Auburn’s Anna Foster, a junior from Dublin, placed joint-10th via rounds of 74, 72 and 73. Both Auburn and LSU advanced to the match play portion, where Auburn fell out after the first round, whereas LSU was eliminated in the second round. Neither Donegan nor Foster won a match therein.
Wake Forest’s Lauren Walsh tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship tournament at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. The County Kildare senior posted rounds of 73, 68 and 70 to finish five strokes under par and nine off medalist Amanda Sambach of Virginia. Sara Byrne of Miami (Fla.), a sophomore from Douglas, Cork, worked out a share of 24th place, having shot 74, 71 and 76, while Louisville’s Mairead Martin, a senior from Kanturk, Co. Cork, got a share of 39th place via rounds of 75, 77 and 75. Wake Forest dropped out after the first round of match play, in which Sambach defeated Walsh, 1 up. Neither Miami nor Louisville advanced.
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Jane Buckley of Providence College won the women’s 3,000 meters at the Friar Invitational in Providence with a gap of 26 seconds between her and the second finisher. The Cork freshman unleashed a kick that got her home in 9:09.78. Teammate Orla O’Connor placed second in the 5,000, her 16:41.02 bettered only by the 16:35.31 run by Syracuse’s Shona McCulloch. O’Connor is a senior from Waterford. Meanwhile, Providence senior Alex O’Neill, from Ennis, Co. Clare, was fourth home in the 800 meters. She reported in at 2:08.39 in a race won by teammate Kimberley May in 2:05.00.
MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Brian Fay, a University of Washington senior from Dublin, won his heat in the men’s 5,000 meters at the Brian Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. He led his field home in 13:21.99, the fastest of any winner at that distance, although well off his stadium and meet record of 13:16.52 set last year.
Tulsa’s Cormac Dalton and Butler’s Barry Keane finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in a heat of the men’s 10,000 meters at the Bryan Clay. Dalton, a senior from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, tripped the timer in 28:04.29, with Keane, a Waterford senior, on his heels in 28:04.66. Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs won the race in 28:01.53.
Last Friday’s Friar Invitational in Providence yielded second-place finishes for Irish runners in two distance events. Iona’s Tadgh Donnelly, a sophomore from Clogherhead, Co. Laois, placed in the men’s 3,000 meters. His time of 8:24.08 was eclipsed only by D.J. Principe of Providence, who ran the race in 8:06.52. Abdel Laadjel, a Providence sophomore from Lucan, Dublin, got runner-up honors in the 5,000, where he threw a 13:44.28, with only teammate Marcelo Rocha ahead of him, in 13:41.83. The Friars’ Shane Coffey, a junior from Naas, Co. Kildare, got sixth place in 13:59.07, with teammate David McGlynn, a senior from Williamstown, Co. Waterford, along for eighth in 14:14.08.
Villanova’s Charlie O’Donovan, a senior from Cork, got second place in the men’s 1,500 meters at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, N.J. He finished in 3:40.68, behind only teammate Liam Murphy in 3:39.42. The Wildcats’ Sean Donoghue, a Dublin sophomore, got seventh place, having run 3:43.94 in a different heat, which he won.
