After back-to-back bottom finishes at the Missouri Valley Championship, the Salukis ended the 2013 season with a third-place finish.

The first two rounds of play positioned SIU at third with a score of 600. They maintained third with Illinois State taking second and Wichita State winning the tournament by 32 strokes. Coach Leroy Newton said he was happy to be back among the top three MVC finishers.

“I am thrilled to death for the kids,” Newton said. “They all worked hard before the tournament and were a team.”

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Senior Joe Goelzhauser’s 148 score through the first two rounds made him the only Saluki to finish in the tournament’s top 10. He finished No. 9 overall after scoring 74 on the final round with an overall 222 tournament score. The final score tied him for his second lowest three-round score on the season.

Goelzhauser said he was ecstatic to get his game on track.

“I’m just glad I could finally get my game together and start playing well,” he said. “I was being patient with my game and driving the ball consistently. If you keep it on the fairway on this course you can do really well.”

After having a Saluki worst score of 85 in the first round, junior Caleb Harms shot a team-low 69 the following round. His 226 final score was good enough for 13th overall. The finish was the highest he has placed in any tournament this season.

“After that 85, I didn’t know what is going to do,” Harms said. “I calmed down and realized I can’t do much worse than that and then came out with a 69 and shot a 72 today.”

Newton said he was proud of Harms’ ability to recover from his first round.

“He was really down after the 85, but I kept track of him and kept talking with him,” he said. “He started hitting the balls better. He had quite an accomplishment, but it shows what kind of kids we got. They don’t give up.”

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Senior Jake Erickson’s 228 over three rounds had him finish tied for 17th overall. Fellow senior Brandon Cauldwell finished with a tie for 26th place. Cauldwell’s score was not good enough to earn a tournament award, but he earned All-Conference honors for his season performance. He finished with a team-low 73.5 stroke average, which is the MVC’s fourth-lowest stroke average.

Goelzhaser, Harms and Erickson earned flags for finishing in the tournament’s top 18.

Newton said he was proud of his team’s performance over player careers, especially the seniors.

“The seniors, they were the team,” he said. “They worked with our juniors and worked with our freshman. While they were taking time to help their teammates, well, they were just getting better themselves.”