The men's golf team traveled south over spring break and heated up with two strong finishes.

The Lions played in the Kingsville Tournament in Williamsburg, Va., last Monday and Tuesday. Twenty-one teams competed in the tourney and Penn State finished third behind Methodist and James Madison.

"Third is exceptional this early in the game," said Coach Mary Kennedy-Zierke. "Coming out of winter practice and only having a couple of days to get their games in shape, I was really pleased with the outcome."

Seniors Dan Vona and William Smith stood out for Penn State. Vona won the tournament with scores of 73-72-145 on the par-71 course. It was the New York native's first collegiate victory. Team captain Smith finished two strokes behind Vona to come in third at 74-73-147. He shot a 34 on the second day's back nine to clinch a high position.

"It was a good tournament for the first one of the year," Smith said. "It would have been nice to beat all the district teams, but we beat some important teams in our district. We'll now be ranked second behind James Madison."

The golf team continued its fine play at the Rattler Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday and Saturday. The Lions tied for second with Valdosta State at 751 in the 45-hole tournament. Florida State, playing on its own course, finished first among the eighteen teams competing.

"They were small colleges but it was good competition for this time of year," Kennedy-Zierke said. "To finish close to the top is excellent."

Smith finished second in the tournament at 75-33 (nine holes)-74-182 to continue his outstanding week. Jason Tyska, Vona and Graham Dendler finished with totals of 189, 190, and 191, respectively.

The conditions on the Florida State Golf Course were quite different from the Kingsmill course. Besides the temperature difference, the layout and the grass conditions caused problems for the Lions.

"We experienced a number of adjustment problems," Smith said. "Because of ground conditions, we had to go from hitting high shots in Virginia to low shots in Florida. We couldn't hit full shots into the green at Florida State."

The Lions will now head to South Carolina next weekend to play in the Wofford Invitational. Many of the nation's top teams will be competing including Clemson, Wake Forest and Furman.