Ann Arbor, MI, May 9, 2004 ¨C The Penn State Men¡¯s Golf team fired a 291-285-293-869 to finish in 6th place at the Big Ten Championships this weekend. The Nittany Lions ended Sunday¡¯s final round 27 shots back of Ohio State, which shot a 279-279-284-842 to take the tournament crown.

Greg Pieczynski (Kingston, Pa.) led Penn State with his 74-71-70-215 performance, good for a 13th place tie. Sophomore Marco Poccia (Saratoga Springs, NY) registered the Nittany Lions¡¯ top single-round performance with his second-round 69 en route to finishing with a 73-69-76-218. Poccia and teammate Mark Leon (Brampton, Ontario) both finished with 54-hole scores of 218 to finish in a 24th place tie. Leon fired a 71-73-74; his first-round 71 was one of four par or better rounds for Penn State.

Freshman Jason Pannone (East Greenwich, RI) 76-72-74-222 while finishing in a tie for 36th place, while senior Ted Neville (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished in a 43rd place tie with his 73-77-75-225.

Ohio State fired a 10-under 842 to win the tournament title, with Illinois (847), Minnesota (848), Purdue (860) and Indiana (865) rounding out the top five.

Penn State will head to Ardmore, Oklahoma this weekend for the Maxwell Intercollegiate, competing Saturday and Sunday (May 15th-16th). For more information on Penn State golf, please visit Penn State¡¯s official athletic website at www.GoPSUSports.com.

 Final Team Results 1 Ohio State Univ. 279 279 284 842 ?10 2 Illinois 279 291 277 847 ?5 3 Minnesota 287 279 282 848 ?4 4 Purdue 287 289 284 860 +8 5 Indiana University 286 291 288 865 +13 6 Penn State U. 291 285 293 869 +17 T7 Michigan, U. of 297 292 282 871 +19 T7 Northwestern 292 288 291 871 +19 9 Iowa, U. of 295 288 290 873 +21 10 Michigan State 287 293 296 876 +24 11 Wisconsin, U. of 299 300 298 897 +45 Top 10 Individuals 1 Kevin Hall Ohio State Univ. 66 65 68 199 ?14 T2 Joe Affrunti Illinois 69 72 69 210 ?3 T2 Mike O¡¯Neal Illinois 67 74 69 210 ?3 T2 Justin Smith Minnesota 68 70 72 210 ?3 T5 Bronson LaCassie Minnesota 73 68 70 211 ?2 T5 David Morgan Minnesota 76 67 68 211 ?2 T7 Luke Epp Purdue 71 72 70 213 E T7 Andrew Ruthkoski Michigan State 69 71 73 213 E T7 Brett Williams Ohio State Univ. 67 74 72 213 E T10 Kevin Dore Michigan, U. of 73 73 68 214 +1 T10 Dillon Dougherty Northwestern 73 69 72 214 +1 T10 Patrick Nagle Illinois 70 74 70 214 +1