Virginia State rolls to CIAA crown

Simpson rallies, wins individual crown for Virginia Union

FORT LEE, Va. – Virginia Union’s Mason Simpson shot a final-round 70 Thursday to win the 2011 CIAA Men’s Golf Championship individual title while Virginia State took home the team title with a two-day total of 603.

Simpson came into the final round two shots behind the first-round leader Mike Swope of Virginia State, but his final-round 70 was enough to overtake Swope to win the title by four strokes. Simpson was the only golfer under par for the tournament while Swope finished with a 1-over par 145.

Virginia State followed its opening round 301 with a final-round 302 to win the team title by 14 strokes ahead of Winston-Salem State, which shot a two-day total 617.

Fayetteville State finished in third place with a two-day score of 645 (322-323) while Chowan finished fourth (650, 319-331) and Virginia Union came in fifth (693, 345-348). Livingstone pulled in the sixth-place finish (699, 349-350) followed by St. Augustine’s in seventh (723, 368-355), Elizabeth City State in eighth (756, 394-362), Johnson C. Smith in ninth (768, 394-374) and St. Paul’s in 10th (918, 471-447).

The all-tournament team, which consists of the top five golfers by score for the two-day tournament, included: Mason Simpson (Virginia Union), Mike Swope (Virginia State), Glendon Mabe (Winston-Salem State), John Cole (Fayetteville State) and Brian Wood (Virginia State).

The all-conference team was also announced and included: Brandon Bailey (Virginia Union), John Cole (Fayetteville State), Cliff Forbes (Chowan), Stephen Grenchi (Virginia State), Rashad Hunt (Virginia State), Glendon Mabe (Winston-Salem State), Lawrence McKenzie (Livingstone) Zack Sheets (Winston-Salem State), Mike Swope (Virginia State), Michael Thornton (Livingstone), Brian Wood (Virginia State). The all-conference team is selected based on overall average scores from the two divisional tournaments and the conference championship. To be eligible players must have competed in all three tournaments.

Virginia State will now represent the CIAA as a team in the 2011 NCAA Super Regional Golf Tournament.

By Virginia State Athletics

VISIT: VIRIGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
VISIT: VSUTROJANS