SABAT, Va. - UNC Wilmington fought through tough windy conditions on Tuesday to claim its first tournament win since the 2007-08 season, as the Seahawks captured the VCU Shootout by five strokes at the Hermitage Country Club.
UNCW, who was ranked 41st entering the tournament, topped six top-50 squads, including a pair of top-20 teams in Iowa and Virginia.
"It was a great win for us, we're starting to see that our hard work over the summer is paying off," said UNCW head coach Matt Clark. "This was a strong field, probably the strongest we've played against this season."
UNCW's last tournament win was at the Cuthbert Cup, which was shortened to two rounds due to rain. The last three-round tournament win was in the 2005 when the Seahawks captured the automatic bid at the Colonial Athletic Association championships.
Charlotte's Corey Nagy (69-71-70=210) earned medalist honors, finishing six-under and topping Wake Forest's Brendan Gielow (70-67-75=212) by two strokes.
UNCW entered the final round with a nine-stroke lead, but saw it evaporate after the first nine holes when Wake Forest drew even for the lead. "We started pretty poorly, but were able to make some fantastic shots in the final nine holes to finish strong."
UNCW senior Derek Wallace (68-73-75=216) recorded his third top-10 finish of the season with a third-place showing. Wallace finished seven strokes off the pace.
Sophomore Taylor Zimmerman (69-73-75=217) finished three-over for the round, but posted his first career top-10 finish after finishing at one-over for the tournament and in a tie for fourth. His previous best finish was 15th at the Ironwood Intercollegiate last spring.
"Taylor's hard work is showing in his results. After opening on the wrong foot in the final round, triple bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the second hole, he battled through it and played one-under golf for the final 16 holes."
Freshman Stefan Brewer (72-71-76=219), who contributed solid scores in the first two rounds, struggled in the final round, finishing four-over, and tied for 15th overall.
UNCW's best round of the day was turned in by junior Michael Taylor (78-73-71=222), who finished one-under for the round and finished tied for 30th. Taylor competed as an individual in the tournament.
Juniors Josh Brock (76-73-75=224) and Ryan Sullivan (72-76-79=227) placed in a tie for 37th and 46th, respectively.
The Seahawks will play their fourth of five fall tournaments when they visit Daufuskie Island, S.C., for the Rees Jones Invitational on Oct. 5-6.
