CHANDLER, Ariz. - WKU finished the final round of the Wyoming Cowboy Classic with a three-over 291 on Tuesday afternoon, tying for fifth on the team leaderboard with the team's second-lowest 54-hole score of the 2015-16 season, a two-under 862 (286-285-291).
The Hilltoppers tied alongside UC Santa Barbara at the par-72, 7,334-yard Whirlwind Golf Club. Colorado rallied past Sam Houston State on Tuesday to claim the team championship at 21-under 843 (290-272-281), outpacing the field by eight strokes.
WKU's 862 was second only to the team's 861 at the Bash at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in early March. The Hilltoppers have also finished fifth or better as a team in each of their last four tournaments, including a victory at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
Trey Aguirre led the WKU card with the best 54-hole performance of his collegiate career, finishing at four-under 212 (72-69-71) to tie for 11th overall. Aguirre's previous low score of 215 came at the Seminole Intercollegiate and Cardinal Intercollegiate tournaments during his 2014-15 junior season. Aguirre's 212 also matches the lowest total shot by a Hilltopper in 2015-16; Blake Smith and Billy Tom Sargent also reached the mark at the Bash at the Beach in March.
Aguirre's score also topped the 53rd-ranked player in the latest Golfstat rankings, Sean Walsh of Gonzaga, by two strokes.
Stuart Easton posted his third consecutive top-25 finish for the Hilltoppers, tying for 25th overall at even-par 216 (71-69-76). The freshman previously finished tied for 17th at the Cape Fear National Intercollegiate and tied for 11th at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in his last two times out. Easton's 216 is also the best 54-hole mark of the collegiate career thus far.
Fellow freshman Smith notched an even-par 72 on Tuesday to finish at four-over 220 (75-73-72) for the tournament to tie for 45th. Smith tied Aguirre for the best mark among the Hilltoppers on par-5 holes across the three rounds, playing them at two-under par.
Austin King and Sargent rounded out the card, each tying for 56th overall at six-over 222. King (68-75-79) tied for the second-best mark in the field on par-3 holes at three-under par, while Sargent (76-74-72) fired 41 pars in 54 holes, trailing only Wichita State's Gage Ihrig (44) among the 109 golfers.
Arizona's Jordan Gumberg, UC Santa Barbara's Brandon Bauman, Colorado's Jeremy Paul and Sam Houston State's Jake McCrory all shared individual medalist honors at 11-under 205 for the tournament.
WKU will return to action at the Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., next Monday and Tuesday, the team's final tournament before the C-USA Championship.
WKU Final Results
T11. Trey Aguirre (-4, 212, 72-69-71)
T25. Stuart Easton (E, 216, 71-69-76)
T45. Blake Smith (+4, 220, 75-73-72)
T56. Austin King (+6, 222, 68-75-79)
T56. Billy Tom Sargent (+6, 222, 76-74-72)
