PISCATAWAY, NJ -- The University of Delaware golf team had its second impressive showing of the 2007 fall season as the Blue Hens finished in fourth place out of 18 schools at the Rutgers Invitational held Friday and Saturday.

The Blue Hens, who opened the season last weekend by placing third at the Navy Invitational, shot an 893 to finish in fourth place at the 54-hole tournament this weekend. University of South Carolina Upstate won the tournament with a team score of 855, followed by the Notre Dame “B” squad at 870, Longwood at 883, and the Blue Hens. Mount St. Mary’s (894), Villanova (895), Seton Hall (895), Monmouth (898), Central Connecticut (900), and Rutgers (904) rounded out the top 10.

Junior Jeff Griest (at right) led Delaware by shooting a 73-76-73=222, nine over par, on the par 71, 6,337-yard course to finish in a tie for 18th place. Sophomore Dan Rexon tied for 28th place after he finished 11 over par with a score fo 74-77-73=224, while junior Tommy Ellison tied for 32nd place after shooting 73-79-73=225, 12 over par.

Sophomore Jason Bernstein finished in 39th place after shooting 76-74-76, 13 over par, while freshman Kevin McLister tied for 40th place after shooting 74-77-76=227 to finish 14 over par.

Michael Lawrence of USC Upstate took home medalist honors after shooting a four under par score of 69-68-72=209, while his teammate Josh Gallman was three shots behind with a one under par score of 69-69-74=212.

The Blue Hens return to action on September 22-23 when Delaware competes in the Elon Invitational at the Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach, NC.

AGATE

Rutgers Invitational: 1. USC Upstate, 280-284-291=855; 2. Notre Dame “B”, 285-294-291=870; 3. Longwood, 289-293-301=883; 4. Delaware, 294-304-295=893; 5. Mount St. Mary’s, 297-303-294=894; T6. Villanova, 295-293-307=895; T6. Seton Hall, 296-297-302=895; 8. Monmouth, 295-300-303=898; 9. Central Connecticut, 298-298-304=900; 10. Rutgers, 304-306-294=904; 11. Bryant, 298-305-303=906; 12. Fairleigh Dickinson, 316-301-302=919; 13. Dowling - 310-310-301=921; 14. Thomas More, 307-306-310=923; 15. Long Island University-Brooklyn, 314-303-312=929; 16. Quinnipiac, 313-312-305=930; 17. Wagner, 327-316-328=971; 18. Manhattan, 330-325-330=985.

Top 10 Individuals: 1. Michael Lawrence (USC Upstate), 69-68-72=209; 2. Josh Gallman (USC Upstate), 69-69-74=212; 3. Brett Bergman (Villanova), 72-70-74=216; T4. Kyle Morris (Seton Hall), 73-72-72=217; T4. Ian O’Connor (Quinnipiac), 74-75-68=217; T6. Jed Rasnick (Longwood), 73-71-74=218; T6. Tyler Tucker (USC Upstate), 73-70-75=218; T8. Michael Young (Longwood), 71-72-76=219; T8. Jeff Chen (Notre Dame “B”), 74-71-74=219; T8. Dustin Zhang (Notre Dame “B”), 69-77-73=219.

Delaware Finishers: T18. Jeff Griest, 73-76-73=222; T28. Dan Rexon, 74-77-73=224; T32. Tommy Ellison, 73-79-73=225; 39. Jason Bernstein, 76-74-76=226; T40. Kevin McLister, 74-77-76=227.