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BALTIMORE – Fighting Illini men's golf won its third consecutive Big Ten Championship title Sunday at Baltimore Country Club, closing the tournament with a team score 11-under par (829). The Illini finished 16 strokes ahead of runner-up Northwestern (+5) to earn the program's eighth Big Ten title in the last nine seasons. The team score marks a new Big Ten Championships record, surpassing the previous record of 838 set by the Orange and Blue last season. 

Junior Dylan Meyer closed the tournament 5-under par to earn individual medalist honors, becoming the seventh consecutive Illini to take medalist honors at the Big Ten Championships. Four Illini closed the tournament among the top 10 individually, while all five players finished among the top 25. 

"Winning the Big Ten Conference Championship is a major goal on our schedule," head coach Mike Small said. "To do it again with a different team, a younger team, gives us a good sense of accomplishment. It continues to give us momentum heading into NCAAs."

Illinois has won 15 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships in school history, with eight of those coming under head coach Mike Small. Small has the unique distinction of winning eight Big Ten titles as a coach and one as a player (1988). Illinois is the first school to win eight Big Ten titles in nine years since the 1980s when Ohio State won eight titles in nine years from 1982-1990.

After kicking off the Big Ten Championships with a Big Ten Championships and Baltimore Country Club course record 63 in the opening round, junior Dylan Meyer continued his strong play at Baltimore Country Club through the weekend. He shot 1-under par for the final round to secure the individual title. Meyer posted three birdies on the front nine, including back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes. He added two more on the back nine, helping negate late bogeys on the day. The individual title marks Meyer's third consecutive tournament win this season. He is the seventh-straight Illini to earn medalist honors at the Big Ten Championship, and Illinois is the only school in conference history to have produced seven consecutive medalists. 

Meyer was not the only Illini to get off to a hot start on Sunday as junior Nick Hardy shot 3-under on the front nine after making birdie on three of the last four holes. He was 1-over par on the back nine, using two birdies to negate three late bogeys and finish the round at 2-under par. Hardy was 1-under for the tournament, earning a tie for sixth place.

Sophomore Edoardo Lipparelli also earned a spot among the top 10 as he took eighth individually with a total score at even par. Freshman Giovanni Tadiotto tied for 10th in his first appearance at the Big Ten Championships, closing the final round 1-over par. Tadiotto also tallied three birdies on the front nine, including consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. Tadiotto was 2-over par for the tournament.

Freshman Michael Feagles also made his first appearance at the conference championship, closing play tied for 23rd individually with a total score 7-over par. 

"I thought we got off to a good start today." Small said. "At the end, we didn't finish like we wanted to, but when you shoot 1-over out here, it's still a solid round. We want to close better than that, but to win by 16 strokes is significant.  

The tournament was played on Baltimore Country Club's 7,181-yard, par 70 Five Farms East course.

The Illini will return to Champaign and await NCAA Regional selections, which will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. CT on Golf Channel and will be streamed live on the Golf Channel website. There will be 81 teams and 45 individuals selected to compete in the six NCAA Men's Regional Championship sites, May 15-17. The six regional sites include The Grove, College Grove, Tennessee, hosted by Middle Tennessee State University; Kampen Course, West Lafayette, Indiana, hosted by Purdue University; Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, California, hosted by Stanford University; University of Texas Golf Club, Austin, Texas, hosted by University of Texas at Austin; University Club, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hosted by LSU and Aldarra Golf Club, Sammamish, Washington, hosted by University of Washington.

Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois men's golf.