Four Miners Finish Under Par at National Invitational Tournament

UTEP Miners

TUCSON, Ariz.- Four Miners shot under par throughout the National Invitational Tournament as UTEP finished in seventh place with a 14-under 850 (284-281-285) score on Monday at the OMNI Tucson National Course in Tucson, Ariz. Running away with the N.I.T. title was no. 46 UNLV, who fired a blistering 50-under 814 (278-266-270), while no. 29 Arizona State (-38), no. 43 Arizona (-34), North Texas (-28) and Iowa State (-24) rounded out the top-five. The Miners bested no. 21 Colorado State, no. 35 Santa Clara and New Mexico State in their finish.

"We battled, but we just didn't make that many birdies and didn't putt well enough to compete," head coach Scott Lieberwirth said. "Some teams were shooting 50 and 30 under, my hats off to them but for us, not quite as good with the putting."

Senior Charles Corner led the Miner run for the third time in the spring season, firing 7-under 209 (68-69-72) to finish in 15th place. Corner picked up three birdies in his final round to add to his 14 total while also tying for third in the field in Par 3 scoring (2.92 avg./-1 Sc.).

Staying close as a trio, senior Nicklas Pihl finished with a share of 32nd after carding a 3-under 213 (69-71-73) score with two birdies, while Aaron Terrazas moved up five spots on the leaderboard to tie for 35th with 2-under 214 (75-69-70) score while picking up four birdies in his final round for 11 total. A tournament-low round of 70 boosted Settavut Paradee up eight spots to finish with a share of 37th with a 1-under 215 (73-72-70) score. Paradee tallied 10 birdies, including four in his final round to help his score.

Rounding out the Miner scorecard was Santiago Castilla, who finished in a tie for 72nd with a 8-over 224 (74-72-78). Castilla picked up two birdies in his final run.

As a unit, UTEP led the field in pars with 179, while totaling 50 birdies.

"We were a little bit more consistent at the no. 4 position, it was closer," Lieberwirth said. "As we've gone on, I'm starting to feel like we've got a consistent four instead of three in the lineup. We're still searching for that final spot, we need some stability in that fifth spot just to take some pressure off the top of the lineup."

The Miners will be back in action March 11-13 when they travel to Bandon, Ore., for the Bandon Dunes Championship hosted by Gonzaga. Live stats will be available via golfstat.com.

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