LIHU'E, Hawai'i – Illinois sophomore Max Herendeen tied both the course record and his career low with a closing 63 (-7) on Saturday at the Ocean Course at Hokuala, leading the No. 10 Fighting Illini to a fifth-place team finish at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate.
Herendeen's round anchored a 5-under team score for the Illini in Round 3 and helped the Orange and Blue climb two spots up the team leaderboard where they finished with a 54-hole score of 837 (-3).
Herendeen, who rose 24 spots up the individual leaderboard, recorded his third straight top 10 and his fourth, overall, dating back to the fall. His 63 (-7) matched his best collegiate score tallied in the first round of his win last year at the NCAA Stanford Regional.
He was one of three Illini to post a top-10 finish alongside senior Jackson Buchanan and sophomore Ethan Wilson, competing as an individual, who each finished tied for eighth.
After an opening 66 (-4) on Thursday, Buchanan carded back-to-back rounds of 70 to secure the 21st top-10 finish of his career.
Wilson followed his opening 70 with under-par scores of 67 (-3) and 69 (-1) on Friday and Saturday, respectively. His 67 in Round 2 marked a season low and his 54-hole total of 206 (-4) established a new career low. It is also his third-career top 10.
Junior Ryan Voois matched Wilson's 1-under 69 in Round 3 and jumped four spots to finish tied for 25th at 210 (E). For Voois it marks his fifth top-25 finish in six events this season.
Freshmen Trey Marrion (T58) and Jake Birdwell (T78) each closed out their week with a 73 (+3) on Saturday. Marrion shot 7-over for the week, while Birdwell posted a three-round tally of 222 (+12). Classmate Joseph Buttress, who joined Wilson as an individual competitor, finished 101st with a total of 237 (+27).
No. 16 Utah and No. 41 UNLV ran away with a share of the team title at 22-under. Santa Clara placed third at -10, and No. 39 Long Beach State finished fourth with a two-shot edge over Illinois, No. 20 San Diego State, and No. 26 Texas A&M in a three-way tie for fifth.
Up Next
The Illini will return to action, March 2-4, to compete in the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nev., for the fourth consecutive season. The event, hosted by UNLV, annually draws a strong field of championship-caliber programs to test themselves on a challenging desert track. Jackson Buchanan helped the Illini win the event as a sophomore in 2023.
