Kevin Foerster - 92 (+21) - 173rd

Kevin Morris - 93 (+22) - T174th

Kevin Foerster - 92-90-182 (+40) - T172nd

Kevin Morris - 93-100-193 (+51) - 179th

Knox senior David Marquardt (right) earned Second Team All-America honors at the 2008 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament on Friday, May 16.

The Prairie Fire qualified as a team for the NCAA Tournament at Chateau Elan Resort Golf Club in Braselton, Georgia after winning the 2008 MWC Championship, but Marquardt was the lone member of the team to make the cut after 36 holes on Wednesday.

Marquardt finished 14 th overall, posting a four-day total of 298. The senior shot rounds of 72, 77, 75 and 74 to finish 14 over-par for the week.

The Knox men’s golf team did not make the team cut after 36 holes at the 2008 NCAA National Championship Tournament. One Prairie Fire player will continue to play on his own though, as 2008 MWC individual medalist David Marquardt qualified to compete individually.

Marquardt (right) opened the tourney with one-over par 72 and then followed with a 77 on Wednesday for a two-day total 149. He ended Wednesday’s round tied for 12th place and qualified to continue playing on Thursday and Friday by being one of the top five overall scorers from a squad whose team missed the cut. The Knox men carded a two-day total of 679 at the Chateau Elan Golf Club Resort in Braselton, Georgia and finished 32nd in the 35-team field.

The first day of the 2008 NCAA Men’s Championships unfolded on Tuesday, May 13.

The Knox men, playing at the Chateau Elan Golf Club Resort in Braselton, Georgia will need to make up ground in order to make Wednesday’s cut, while senior David Marquardt enjoyed a strong performance on the first 18 holes. Marquardt, the 2008 MWC individual medalist, shot a one-over-par 72 and enters Wednesday tied with three other players for third place. The Prairie Fire shot a four-player total of 333 and are currently tied for 28th place in the 35-team field.

Scores and leaderboard links available on the lefthand side of this page under 2008 NCAA Tournament.

The Knox men’s golf team won its 29th Midwest Conference Championship in 2008 and will now follow with the school’s first NCAA National Championship Tournament appearance since 1988.

The MWC received annual automatic qualifier status to the NCAA tourney a year ago, when league champ Monmouth competed in the NCAA field.

The 2008 National Championships are being held on Tuesday-Friday, May 13-16 at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, Georgia and are hosted by Emory University. The Prairie Fire will play the The Chateau Course on Tuesday and The Woodlands Course on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday’s pairings and schedule will be determined based on the team and individuals who make the first cut.

C.J. Rugh’s Knox squad will be represented by freshman Kevin Morris, senior Arjun Rao, sophomore Kevin Foerster, sophomore Taylor Mueller and senior David Marquardt, the 2008 MWC individual champion.

The Knox roster will play in five consecutive threesomes, as Morris is slated to tee off at 9 a.m. and Marquardt will follow as the last Knox player on the course at 9:36 a.m.

Constant rain and gusting winds produced miserable conditions for the third and final round of the 2008 Midwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship on May 3, but Knox weathered the storm atop the team and individual leaderboards to add to its MWC-best totals in both categories.

The Prairie Fire, who entered Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Illinois with a 10-stroke lead over Monmouth on Saturday, held off the Scots en route to a three-day total of 970 and a six-stroke victory. Knox now owns an MWC-best 29 overall conference titles, including two under current head coach C.J. Rugh (right). David Marquardt (left) added to Knox’s conference-best total by becoming the 20th medalist in school history. The senior carded scores of 72, 74 and 78 to finish with a 54-hole total of 224, t\opping his closest competitor by nine strokes.

St. Norbert’s Gabe Dahl (233) was the individual runner-up, while Ripon’s Mike Moldenhaur followed in third with a score of 234. Carroll’s Mike McCormick (237) and Illinois College’s Mark Strain (239) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Prairie Fire earned the conference’s automatic berth to the 2008 NCAA Tournament. This year’s edition will take place in Braselton, Georgia on May 13-16.

Knox could move its conference-leading total of links titles to 29 on Friday, as the Prairie Fire shot a league-best team round of 317 at the 2008 Midwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship to move into first-place on Saturday, May 3.

Day two of the 54-hole event at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Illinois started with an hour-plus delay due to storms and lightening, but it was the Prairie Fire who struck after play resumed. Led by David Marquardt (right), who remains atop the individual leaderboard after following yesterday’s 72 with a 74, the Prairie Fire pushed past Grinnell, as did second-place Monmouth, who enters day three 10 strokes back at 642.

Grinnell sits in third (648), followed by Carroll (654) and St. Norbert (655), who both held their positions in the standings on day two.

There was a shakeup on the individual leaderboard, as Ripon’s Mike Moldenhauer and Illinois College’s Mark Strain improved their first round scores by four and two strokes, respectively, to jump into a tie for second with 36-hole totals of 154. Monmouth’s Aaron Thiel (155) sits in fourth, followed by Gabe Dahl (156) of St. Norbert. Marquardt could become Knox’s 20th individual medalist on Saturday, also the conference’s historical high-mark.

The third and final round of action will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday (May 3).

Grinnell took a step toward its first Midwest Conference men’s golf title since 1973 on the first day of play (May 1) at the 2008 MWC Men’s Golf Championship at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Illinois. The Pioneers carded an 18-hole team total of 312 among their top four players to take the lead with 36 holes remaining, although Knox, Monmouth and Carroll remain just a few steps behind. The Prairie Fire enter Friday in second place with a score of 315, while Monmouth and Carroll sit just behind at 316 and 319, respectively.

Knox’s David Marquardt was the individual leader after the fist day of play, as the senior fired an even-par 72. Grinnell’s Pete Kieselbach (right) shot a 75 to tie for second place with a pair of Monmouth golfers in Aaron Thiel and Rodney Clayton. Carroll’s Mike McCormick and St. Norbert’s Gabe Dahl tied for fifth with identical scores of 76.

Play continues Friday (May 2) with the first group slated to tee off at 9 a.m.

Monmouth hoisted the Midwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship trophy a year ago, making the Scots the third different conference champ in the past three seasons. Head coach Dave Ragone’s (right) Scots have the talent to be the first MWC squad to repeat as champions since Knox won eight in a row from 1994-2001, but the rest of the field will not concede anything, as the parity in the league continues to increase. Nine conference teams will descend upon Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Illinois on Thursday, Friday and Saturday May 1-3 to contest the 54-hole event. The MWC received automatic qualifier status from the NCAA a year ago, giving the MWC team champ the chance to compete for the National Championship in Braselton, Georgia on May 13-16. The Aldeen Golf Club blue tee course is an 18-hole, par 72 layout that measures 6,471 yards. The course rates as a 71.2 and features a slope of 121.

2008 MWC Championship Preview

Cody Pinkston has been selected to replace Bill Peters, who resigned last month after three years at the helm, as the new women’s golf coach at Ripon. A former golf professional, Pinkston brings with him a wealth of instruction, tournament-operations and playing experience. Pinkston also serves as the director of media and public relations for Ripon College.

A native of Medford, Wis., Pinkston enjoyed great success as a junior player and eventually led the Medford High School team to consecutive Lumberjack Conference championships, capped by an individual second-place finish at the 1992 WIAA Division I Boys’ State Championship. He attended UW-La Crosse from 1992-1994 and later transferred to New Mexico State University’s Professional Golf Management program, from which he graduated in 1997 with a degree in marketing.

Pinkston will also take over the reigns of the school’s men’s golf program, replacing head football coach Ron Ernst.