Red Wolves - IU East

NEW ALBANY, Ohio - A backache won't distract Indiana University East junior Nick Ary from this goal.Ary (Brookville, Ohio/Brookville High School) enters the final round of the NAIA National Championships Qualifying Tournament at Jefferson Country Club in contention for a trip to the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships.

Ary holds third place in the qualifying tournament after 36 holes April 28 on the 7,003-yard, par 72 layout.

Ary carded a 154 and trails tournament leader Nick Trago of Ohio Dominican by two strokes.

The tournament medalist advances to the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships May 18 -21 at TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

"Nick played really well," said IU East coach Von Ebeling. "His back started hurting, but he persevered and concentrated and got the job done."

The final 18 holes are April 30.

IU East shot 707 as a team and holds fourth place in the six-team event.

Ohio Dominican leads with a 624. The team champion also advances to the NAIA National Championships.

Ary said he tried to treat his April 29 rounds like "a normal round."

He shot 79 in the opening round and followed it up with a 75 in Round 2.

"I played pretty consistent both rounds," he said. "The first round I had some dumb mistakes and left four or five shots out there, but I knew it was a long day so I stayed mentally tough.

"The course makes you play smart. It's probably the best course we'll ever play. You had to figure out where you could miss, where you can't, where you have opportunities to make birdies and where your goal is to make par."

Ary said he'll start fresh on April 30.

"It's a new tournament," he said. "I'll try to have a good, positive attitude and keep plugging and try to come away with an opportunity to advance."

IU East freshman Zack Palmer (Richmond, Ind./Richmond High School) is in 11th place with a 169 after rounds of 86 and 83.

Red Wolves senior Mark Bevins (Hollansburg, Ohio/Tri-Village High School) is in 21st with a 186 after rounds of 98 and 88.

Freshman Derrick McNeely (Connersville, Ind./Connersville High School) is 25th with a 198 after rounds of 97 and 101.

Freshman Brandon Loomis (Union City, Ind./Union City Community High School) is 26th with a 203 after rounds of 100 and 103.

IU East shot 360 in the first round and improved to 347 in Round 2.

"Tomorrow we want to better our scores," Ebeling said. "We want to put it all together and play our best round.

"And the team is rallying around Nick. We might not advance as a team, but we can still have an individual national qualifier, so he'll definitely have the team's support."