A GOOD SNOWMAN: Bulldogs win 8th straight district title

No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast cruised to its eighth-straight district championship on a wet-and-stormy Wednesday in Brandon, winning by 28 shots.

The two-time defending national champion Bulldogs finished 1-under for the 54-hole event at Castlewoods Country Club, with two players in the five-way tie for first in the individual standings.

"This group has worked really hard," Gulf Coast coach Brad Thornton said. "They've done just about everything that I could ask for from them, and to finally see the results coming at this point in the year, it's a really good time to start playing your best golf. I'm really excited to see how we move forward towards nationals." 

Gulf Coast has won 17 of the last 18 district/region titles, this one the Gulf South District. It punches the Bulldogs' automatic ticket to the NJCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship, which starts May 19 in Plymouth, Ind.

Hinds and No. 8 Meridian finished tied for second at 27-over, with Hinds winning the second berth in the national tournament. Meridian has a good chance at picking up an at-large spot, a path which is new this year.

Jayden Owensby (Fr., Hernando/Hernando) and Logan Jensen (Fr., Diamondhead/Hancock) finished in the tie for medalist along with Northeast Mississippi's Olof Behle, Copiah-Lincoln's Max Seidemann and Hinds' Stephen Faucheaux. Behle beat Seidemann in a playoff for the low finisher among players not on qualifying teams. Those five golfers earned All-Tournament honors.

Owensby rebounded from a poor second round to fire his second 3-under round of the tournament. He had two of the four 69s in the field over three days. Jensen shot 1-over to join the pack.

Cal Wier (Fr., Hernando/Lewisburg) finished sixth at 2-over, showing how the all-freshman group is rounding into form at just the right time.

"The more experience you have, obviously, the better these guys have gotten," said Thornton, who was named District Coach of the Year. "They have completed their tails off against each other, and they've finally gotten that level of comfort competing in tournament play. Just look at it top to bottom. We've had guys one through five be low medalist in an event, post the low round of the day, all these different accomplishments that prove they're doing things the right way. They're seeing the results from it, which is exciting."

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