Photos provided by Ritch Fuhrer, Digital Designs and Photography

KANSAS CITY, MO. (June 7, 2012) --  Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's golf team finished the 2012 season ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced recently. The Saints received 363 total points to receive that ranking.

The Saints earned the last of eight at-large bids to the 61st annual NAIA Men's Golf National Championship presented by FORE! Salem at Creekside Golf Club in Salem, Ore. 

Over the course of four days, the Saints were as high as second place in the tournament, and at the conclusion of the fourth and final round, the team finished in a tie for seventh place. Last year was the first time the Saints as a team qualified for the national tournament, and they played through the final round when they finished in 17th place. The previous year, Aaron Flores, then a freshman, qualified for the nationals as an individual.

Freshman Dustin Blair

The defending national champions Oklahoma City University finished on top of the postseason poll. The Stars were followed by second-ranked Oklahoma Christian University, who gathered 452 total points. No. 3 British Columbia moved up five spots and tallied 436 points. Checking in at No. 4 with 419 points was Johnson & Wales. No. 5 Cumberlands shifted up one spot from last time with 407 points. No. 7 Victoria experienced the best jump within the Top 25 this week, improving from the 17th spot.

No. 15 Holy Cross and No. 19 Madonna earned a national ranking for the first time this year. With Holy Cross and Madonna moving in, SCAD Savannah (No. 21) and The Master's (No. 23) were pushed out.
 

Senior Jack Shores

Fourteen conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25. The Sooner Athletic Conference is best represented with five programs in the poll: No. 23 Lubbock Christian, Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma City, No. 20 Southern Nazarene and No. 18 Wayland Baptist. The Sun Conference lands four teams in the Top 25. Overall, there are five conferences who boast multiple teams in the poll.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups.

Notes (All information as of 2000):Oklahoma City increased its NAIA record of No. 1 appearances to 36, which is 11 more than Oklahoma Christian's 25 all-time top rankings ... Former NAIA member Simon Fraser (B.C.), who has been ranked at the top spot twice, is the only other school to appear at No. 1 more than once ... Oklahoma City has never been ranked lower than fifth, which occurred on one occasion back on the first regular-season poll of 2009 ... Oklahoma Christian's lowest rating was 16th, occurring on April 11, 2001 ... British Columbia, who garnered the top ranking in the 2009 preseason poll, is the last school other than the two Sooner Athletic Conference powers to appear at No. 1, back on Dec. 9, 2008 ... There have been 37 different teams to be ranked throughout the course of the 2012 season (in six polls). 
 

Others receiving votes: SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 87; Marian (Ind.) 50; Bellevue (Neb.) 42; Union (Tenn.) 41; The Master's (Calif.) 35; Northwood (Texas) 34; Southwestern (Kan.) 24; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 23; Rogers State (Okla.) 17; Northwestern (Iowa) 16; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 10; Brescia (Ky.) 7; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 5; Oklahoma Baptist 4; St. Thomas (Fla.) 3; Faulkner (Ala.) 3; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 3; Thomas (Ga.) 1; Evangel (Mo.) 1; St. Francis (Ill.) 1; Westminster (Utah) 1.