CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Parkland College golf team finished in second place at the Region 24 Championship on Tuesday, shooting a three-round combined score of 904 (+51) after a final round of 304. The Cobras advance to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament for the fifth consecutive year. Parkland finished 14 strokes behind winners Heartland Community College (+26, 890) and 37 strokes ahead of third-place Danville Area Community College (+77, 941).  
 
"We definitely did not have our best stuff this week but at this time of the year, it's all about surviving and advancing," head coach Corbin Sebens said after the final round. "At the beginning of the year it was our goal to make it back to Nationals and we did that. There are a lot of positives we can take from the past couple of days, and we'll continue to build and grow in the next couple of weeks." Sebens added, "I couldn't be more proud of our freshmen Dain and Kegan for really stepping up this week." 
 
Parkland will now prepare for its fifth consecutive National Championship, which will take place May 17-20 at the Twin Hill Country Club in Joplin, Missouri. The program's best previous finish was just last year when the Cobras won the National Championship. Parkland Golf is currently ranked No. 3 by both Golfstat.com and the Bushnell/Golfweek NJCAA DII Coaches' Poll.  
 
The Cobras came into the third and final round trailing Heartland Community College by 14 strokes. Parkland kept pace with the Hawks, but the team could not overcome the deficit as Parkland finished in 2nd. Four Cobra golfers finished in the top ten. Freshmen Dain Richie (3rd) led the way, earning medalist honors with a three-round total of 223. He finished just three strokes ahead of fellow freshmen teammate Kegan Niles (T4), who came in at 226. Sophomores Joel Petersson (6th) and Corey Neville (7th) were not far behind as the two fired a 227 and a 228, respectively, to round out the scoring for the Cobras. 
 
Team Leaderboard 
Individual Leaderboard 
 
Team Scores: 
1          Heartland CC                         +26      294+292+304=890 
2          Parkland College                    +51      302+298+304=904 
3          Danville Area CC                   +77      312+319+310=941 
4          Illinois Central College           +82      314+315+317=946 
5          Rend Lake College                +83      318+313+316=947 
6          Vincennes University             +11      335+325+315=975 
7          Lewis & Clark CC                 +158    340+344+338=1022 
8          Lincoln Trail College             +173    335+336+366=1037 
 
Parkland Individual Scores: 
3          Dain Richie                 +7        75+73+75=223 
T4        Kegan Niles               +10      74+77+77=226 
6          Joel Petersson           +11      75+76+76=227 
7          Corey Neville             +12      78+74+76=228 
N/A     Alex White                   +12      84 
N/A     Roo Fenwick               +14      81+86