CONOVER, N.C. – No. 16 Saint Leo men's golf fired off a two-under 282 to climb seven spots on the final leaderboard to finish the South/Southeast Super Regional at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in sixth at 876 (+24), qualifying for the National Championships May 21-25 in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
 
The Lions, who shot back-to-back 297 for the first two rounds, saw their five golfers combine for 16 birdies and 57 pars over the final 18-holes of the regional.
 
Oliver Lilliedahl led the way with a four-under 67 for the final round to finish in 32nd at 219 (+6). Just ahead of Lilliedahl, Alberto Castagnara finished a stroke ahead of his teammate at 218 (+5) following a final round 71 (-1) for a 28th place finish
 
Bas Vermeulen and Simon Knutsson tied for 64th at 225 (+12) where Knutsson shot a one-over 72 Wednesday as Vermeulen carded an eight-over 79.
 
Riley Goss capped his performance at regionals with a two-over 73, to end play at 227 (+14). Goss finished the super regional in 75th place.
 
No. 1 West Florida finished atop the team leaderboard at 840 (-12) where Florida Southern's John VanDerLaan won the individual side at 203 (-10).
 
Up Next …
Saint Leo will head to the NCAA National Championships May 21-25 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals, Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. North Alabama will host the four-day finals where the teams will compete to make it to medal play.

Getting to the Big Dance …
At a minimum, the top three teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals May 21-25, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals, Fighting Joe Course in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  The remaining eight team berths will be allocated based on the regions represented in the prior year's head-to-head medal play portion of the championships, with the maximum number of teams from a given region capped at seven.  The finals will be hosted by the University of North Alabama.

With the South/Southeast, mainly the Sunshine State Conference, controlling the National Championships or head-to-head medal play more specifically, the region receives seven bids to the national championships. Tying for sixth, will allow the Lions to travel to Muscle Shoals on May 21-25 to square off with the elite programs across the country. Since switching to head-to-head medal play in 2011, the SSC has won six straight titles, missing out on just the first year. 

Nova Southeastern (2012, 2015) and Barry (2013, 2014) have two titles each where Florida Southern (2017) and Saint Leo (2016) make up for the remaining two SSC titles.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo men's golf team visit SaintLeoLions.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.