LANETT, Ala. -
Juan Cespedes and
Lucas Nicola tied for first at the Skyhawk Fall Classic Saturday and Sunday with Cespedes winning the playoff hole to pace the Eagles to a second place finish as a team at the Point Univ. Golf Club.
Cespedes, more often known as Nacho, fired a three-under-par 68 to jump out to second behind a four-under-par performance from Mobile's Thomas Cumbie. Cespedes kept the pressure on and was able to stay atop the leaderboard with a four-over-par 75 Sunday to earn his first top place finish.
Lucas Nicola sat six shots back of the lead going into Sunday's final round but charged up the leaderboard, jumping from a tie for 10th to the top spot alongside Nacho with a one-under-par 70, three shots better than the next best score in the final round. The duo went to a playoff hole and the experience paid off for Cespedes who beat his freshman teammate in the friendliest competitive playoff you could have.
After a tough Saturday as a squad, the Eagles saw themselves 15 shots back of the lead but did not waver Sunday climbing from fourth to second with a 15-over-par second round.
Leo Testas finished 18th with an 11-over-par tournament.
Ernest Juglar finished 22nd with a 13-over-par finish.
Garrett Jurkofsky rounded out the potential counting scores with a 27th place finish at 16-over-par.
Cooper Osborne's 18-over-par finish saw him sit one shot ahead of
Mac Moorer and two ahead of
Judson Graham who rounded out the individuals.
On the women's side,
Shelby Hughes earned a top 15 finish with a 16-over-par finish, with a strong six-over-par Sunday, the sixth best of all scores in the round.
Eden Shipp shot a 31-over-par tournament with a 12-over-par first round leading the way to a 36th place finish..
Allie Rogers's 25-over-par led her to a 63-over-par score.
The women next compete Sept. 20 at the TWU Fall Invitational with the men taking the course again on Sept. 29 at the Invite at Innisbrook.