The Vikings finished 4th out of 20 teams in the Aurora University Classic. Senior captain, Alex Sierra, finished second individually in the invite as a whole. Sierra and the Vikings look to use this win and their next invite to prepare for the Midwest Regional Classic on September 15th and 16th.
After playing at the number 4 spot last year, Sierra has now emerged to the number 1 position this season. This tournament, he proved why he should be in that position. He shot a 141, 3 under par, which was 1 stroke shy of the leader, Josh Gibson, from Hope College.
“As a team I thought our freshman played very well since that was their first ever invite,” Sierra said. “Being an upperclassmen, I feel like it is my job to bring a positive energy and attitude, which was very apparent today.”
With having a brand new varsity team there is reason for concern going into a new season, but head coach, Paul Del Vecchio, believes that the players will be alright.
“We have 3 freshman on the varsity team who already picked up a lot of confidence after playing in their first college invite,” said Delvecchio
Freshman, Jack Neenan, gave the team a big boost, as he finished 10th overall. Del Vecchio wants not only his freshman, but all of his players to be confident going into the Midwest Regional Tournament.
“With a big tournament this weekend in West Dundee, which features a lot of teams from the CCIW, the freshman and the team as whole should be feeling confident and ready, as they go into the Midwest Regional the following weekend,” said Del Vecchio.
The team wants to keep it relatively simple as they go into the Classic.
“With each round we try and stay focused on the shot we have, everything else takes care of itself,” Del Vecchio said.
Augustana tied for 2nd out of 32 teams last year at the Midwest Regional Classic, and they hope to do even better this year with this intriguing new Vikings team. The Tournament will be held on September 15 and 16.