BELLE VERNON, Pa. – West Liberty University senior Alex Easthom won the medal championship and the WLU men's golf team came up just one stroke shy of the team crown here Sunday as the Vulcan Invitational concluded its two-day run at Cedarbrook Golf Club.
    After torching the Red Course for a 13-under-par total of 129 through the first 36 holes on Sunday, Easthom joined the rest of the field on the "struggle bus" at Cedarbrook when Monday's final 18-hole round shifted to the longer and much more challenging Gold Course.
    Easthom shot a 4-over-par 76 on Monday to post the winning medal score of 9-under-par 205 for the tournament. That was two shots better than Shepherd's Mason Kidwell and Charleston's Victor Del Pozo Ramis, who shared runner-up honors at 207, with Tyler Kipp of California (Pa.) and Davis & Elkins' Jordan Hyland two shots farther back at 209.
    The team championship wasn't decided until the very last putt of the day with Charleston holing out for a 54-hole score of 3-over-par 859. West Liberty was one shot back at 860 with Davis & Elkins hot on the front-runners' heels at 862. Host California (877) and Fairmont State (878) rounded out the top five.
    Howard Peterson IV (218), Bo Orecchio (219) and Noah Seivertson (220) backed Easthom with Top 30 finishes for Coach Thadd Obecny's Hilltoppers.
    The West Liberty men return to action on Sept. 13-14 when they head south to compete in the Golden Eagle Invitational hosted by the University of Charleston.
         1. Charleston 859; 2. WEST LIBERTY 860; 3. Davis & Elkins 862; 4. California (Pa.) 877; 5. Fairmont State 878; 6. Wilmington (Del.) 879; 7. Post 882; 8. Shepherd 888; 9. West Chester 890; 10. Concord 896; 11. Millersville 899; 12. Clarion 905; 13. Glenville State 915; 14. Notre Dame 922; 15. Ohio Valley 930; 16. W.Va. Wesleyan 953; 17. Wheeling 960        205: Alex Easthom (65-64-76)
       218: Howard Peterson IV (70-73-75)
       219: Bo Orecchio (71-72-76)
       220: Noah Seivertson (73-74-73)
       239: Brendan Vucelich (71-81-87)