Hernandez, Slusher earn All-Conference honors, lead Men's Golf to sixth place finish at 2021 OAC Championships

By Tim Glon

WEST LAFAYETTE — Juniors Jared Hernandez (Van Wert) and Andrew Slusher (Covington) earned All-Conference honors to lead the Ohio Northern men's golf team to a sixth place finish at the 2021 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships Friday-Sunday at River Greens Golf Course.

The Polar Bears end their season with a 15-27-3 overall record.

Northern finished the 72-hole tournament with a 309-307-320-306—1242 to tie Muskingum for sixth place out of nine teams in the tightly contested race. ONU finished one shot out of fifth, eight shots out of fourth and just 35 shots off the lead.

The top 14 finishers and ties at the end of the 72-hole tournament earned All-OAC honors.

Hernandez rallied from 26th place after the first round to finish 11th out of 45 golfers, firing a final round 74 to end with a 79-78-77-74—308.

Slusher was in the top 14 at the end of each of the four rounds, finishing tied for 13th with a 76-76-77-81—310.

Sophomore Josh Steyer (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) tied for 19th with a 77-72-85-78—312, missing All-OAC honors by two strokes.

Junior Nolan Kimberly (Zanesville) tied for 28th with a 76-81-81-78—317 and junior Austin White (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) was 42nd with a 86-90-86-76—337.

Otterbein won the team title by eight shots with a 1207. John Carroll was second with a 1215 and Capital was third at 1227.

Team Standings

1. Otterbein 297-304-302-304—1207, 2. John Carroll 310-299-306-300—1215, 3. Capital 307-308-302-310—1227, 4. Baldwin Wallace 309-311-313-301—1234, 5. Marietta 303-312-313-313—1241, t6. Ohio Northern 309-307-320-306—1242, t6. Muskingum 315-308-309-310—1242, 8. Mount Union 311-316-311-325—1263, 9. Heidelberg 330-344-338-336—1347.

Top 14 Individuals (Top 14 and ties after 72 holes earn All-OAC honors)

1. Coury Rogers (Ott) 71-75-72-78—296, 2. Kurt Foreman (Ott) 76-70-78-75—299, 3. Ben Gleichauf (JCU) 79-70-73-78—300, 4. Brenton Franks (Musk) 78-74-76-74—302, 5. Ben Satterthwaite (Cap) 75-75-73-80—303, 6. Zach Brinks (JCU) 77-78-76-74—305, t7. Ryan Green (BW) 75-77-80-74—306, t7. Gage Herb (Mar) 73-77-79-77—306, t7. Carson Fox (Mar) 76-76-77-77—306, t7. Ian Smith (MtU) 78-72-76-80—306, 11. Jared Hernandez (ONU) 79-78-77-74—308, 12. Ian Johnson (Ott) 77-83-74-75—309, t13. Andrew Slusher (ONU) 76-76-77-81—310, t13. Jimmy Clark (BW)m 76-80-78-76—310, t13. Logan Bratsch (BW) 80-75-79-76—310.

Ohio Northern Results

t11. Jared Hernandez 79-78-77-74—308, t13. Andrew Slusher 76-76-77-81—310, t19. Josh Steyer 77-72-85-78—312, t28. Nolan Kimberly 76-81-81-78—317, 42. Austin White 86-90-86-76—337.