James Love of the University of Denver qualified Saturday for the NCAA golf championship by shooting a final-round 68 at the West Regional at Omni Tucson National Golf Course in Arizona, finishing in a tie for 11th at 8-under-par 208.
The top 10 teams plus two individuals from teams not advancing to the championship move on, and Love got his chance when another player he was tied with, Adam Hagen of Nevada, left the premises before a playoff between the two could be held. Love’s 68 moved him up 11 spots from the second round.
The NCAA championship is May 31-June 3 at Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver, Ore.
Billy Horschel of Florida and Casey Watabu of Nevada shared medalist honors at 13-under 203.
DU finished tied for 22nd, 53 strokes behind co-winners Arizona and Florida. DU shot a final-round 275 for a 16-over 880.
Derrick Whiting of Colorado State qualified as an individual for the regional and finished in a tie for 46th at 2-under 214. Whiting moved up 11 spots Saturday with a 2-under 70.
Meanwhile, Colorado finished tied for 21st at the Central Regional at Sand Ridge Golf Club in Chardon, Ohio, shooting a 16-over 300 in the final round to finish at 59-over 911.
Oklahoma State ran away with the team title, shooting a 7-under 845, 16 strokes better than runner-up Northwestern. Oklahoma State also claimed medalist honors as Jonathan Moore shot an 8-under 205 to finish three strokes ahead of teammate Zack Robinson.
Edward McGlasson was the Buffs’ top player, carding a 7-over 220 to tie for 30th place. He moved up 29 spots from the second round with a 1-under 70 on Saturday. Kenny Coakley finished in a tie for 75th at 227.
Baseball
Efren Navarro Jr. hit three home runs to lead UNLV to an 18-4 win over Air Force. The Rebels (27-28, 12-10 Mountain West Conference) collected 23 hits off four Air Force pitchers. Karl Bolt and Geno Salazar homered for Air Force (10-36, 1-21), which is the seventh seed in the MWC Tournament, which starts Tuesday in Las Vegas. TCU is the No. 1 seed.
Junior Brennan Garr hit two home runs, and Eric Mayhew won his fourth consecutive decision to lead Northern Colorado to a 13-10 win over the New York Institute of Technology at the D-I Independent Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D.
UNC will play Utah Valley State or North Dakota State, which were playing Saturday, for the tournament title today.
Lacrosse
Former Cherry Creek High School standout Caroline Cryer scored four goals to lead Duke to a 16-6 win over James Madison in the quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s lacrosse championship. Cryer was facing a former teammate: Brooke McKenzie, who won state titles with Cryer at Cherry Creek. McKenzie had two assists.
Basketball
Three Colorado players signed scholarship offers to play at Northern Colorado, as did a player from Minnesota.
Joining the Bears are Devon Beitzel of Centaurus High School, a 6-foot guard who was a first-team all-state and All-Colorado selection after averaging 27.5 points as a senior; Will Figures of Smoky Hill, a 5-9 guard who averaged 19.6 points and made 82.8 percent of his free throws; Neal Kingman of Greeley West, a 6-6 forward and 4A all-state selection as a senior, averaging 17.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists; and Jefferson Mason of Crystal, Minn., who is a 6-5 guard-forward and averaged more than 21 points as a senior.
