EL PASO — Zander Lozano captured his second individual title of the fall with a school-record performance to lead UTSA to a runner-up finish at Price's "Give 'Em Five" Invitational, which wrapped up on Sunday at Butterfield Trail Golf Club (par 72/7,307 yards).
Lozano carded a 14-under-par 202 to edge UTEP's Andreas Sorenson, who shot a 204 in the 54-hole event. The junior bettered the previous school record of 203 set by Gibby Martens at the 2002 Shocker Invitational in recording his eighth top-10 collegiate finish.
A native of Fair Oaks Ranch, Lozano matched his opening round with a 6-under 66 on Sunday that was highlighted by three of his six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 18th as part of a 31 on the back nine. He wrote down a tournament-high 18 birdies and led all players in par-5 scoring (-10). Lozano now has 10 sub-70 rounds, which ranks third in school history.
"The biggest thing today was being patient," Lozano said. "(Assistant) Coach (Kyle) Collins started walking with me after my sixth hole and helped me keep my head straight after a rocky start. My swing didn't feel comfortable, but I was able to keep the ball in play and make some putts coming down the stretch. The eagle on 18, which was my 15th hole today, was a big turning point and gave me confidence to finish off the round well."
Lozano, who shared the individual crown at the season-opening Sam Hall Intercollegiate in September, also finished atop the leaderboard at the end of regulation with a previous career-best 207 at the 2015 Lone Star Invitational before falling in a sudden-death playoff.
Lozano was not the only Roadrunner in the top 10, as Bryce Alley tied for fifth place — his third career top 10 — with a career best-tying 7-under 209. The senior from Longview opened with a pair of 71s and then turned in a 5-under 67 on Sunday that featured six birdies against just one bogey for his ninth career sub-70 round, fourth on the program's all-time chart.
Sean Meehan registered a 3-under 213 that was capped by a season-best 5-under 67 on Sunday. The sophomore from Bryan posted a 74-72—146 over the first two rounds en route to his fourth top-20 finish.
Adam House and Collin Clark closed out the UTSA lineup in ties for 29th (71-76-71—218) and 58th (76-76-74—226), respectively, while Dylan Godfrey tied for 49th (75-73-76—224) competing as an individual.
The Roadrunners posted the second-best round in program annals on Sunday with a tournament-low 17-under 271, which trails only the 267 from the opening round of this same tournament in 2014. The 271 helped UTSA leap past Marquette and New Mexico State from fourth place and into second at 22-under 842 (282-289-271), which stands as the second-best 54-hole scorecard in school history behind the 836 posted two years ago at this event. The runner-up showing marked the Birds' highest finish since a second-place effort at the 2015 UTSA Oak Hills Invitational.
"I am proud of the guys for responding today," ninth-year head coach John Knauer said after leading the Roadrunners to their 16th top-five finish during his tenure. "I knew after the first two rounds that we were making plenty of birdies, but we kept throwing it away with bogies. I challenged them last night at dinner and we ended up only counting seven bogies today. It's always nice to see the guys step up."
Host UTEP captured the team title with a 35-under 829, while Marquette (851), New Mexico State (856) and UTRGV (863) rounded out the top five in the 11-team field.
The Roadrunners will conclude their fall campaign on Nov. 4-6 when they travel to Lahaina, Hawai`i, for the Ka'anapali Classic.
