Bolingbrook, Ill. -- Just two days after concluding its participation at the Forester Spring Invite, the Wheaton men's golf team was back on the course, as it took part in its closest event to home on Monday and Tuesday. The Thunder sent two groups of players to compete in the 13-team Cardinal Classic hosted by North Central College in Bolingbrook, and the Wheaton A team tied for fifth in this week's event, while its B squad came in 11th. Wyatt Brown continued his recent run of form by matching his team's result and tying for fifth on the leaderboard today, and Jonah Swartz also earned a top ten placement to help lead the Thunder A team.

The A squad shot a combined 305 in yesterday's first round to start in fourth place in the team standings, and the four-man group followed this up with a score of 309 on today's second 18 to register a two-day total mark of 614 (+38), exactly the same as College of Wooster, who shared the fifth spot in the table with Wheaton. Aurora University's A team won the tournament with a combined tally of 592 (+16), and the Spartans' B team came in fourth place, just ahead of Wheaton and Wooster, on a count of 606 (+30). The Thunder B team carded a combined score of 327 on Monday and a nearly-identical 326 today to finish the event with a total mark of 653, two shots ahead of Carthage College's second squad in 12th place.

Brown earned his second-consecutive top five finish and third-straight top ten placement this afternoon courtesy of a two-day total of 148 (+4). The sophomore tallied a 76 from Monday's first set of 18 holes before improving to an even par 72 today to rise up the competition's 65-man leaderboard. Swartz (pictured right) was nearly the mirror image of his teammate, shooting a 72 (E) yesterday and a 77 on Tuesday to enter the clubhouse on a 149 (+5) mark and tie for seventh in the solo standings, maintaining an impressive streak from the CCIW Men's Golf Student-Athlete of the Week.

Freddie Chan and Sam Obitts joined Brown and Swartz on Wheaton's A team for the competition, and this pair also finished close by one another on the leaderboard. Chan tied for 30th via a first-round mark of 78 (+6) and a second-day total of 80 for an overall event score of 158 (+14). Obitts carded a 79 to start on Monday and matched Chan's Tuesday figure with a second-round score of 80 to end the tournament a single shot behind his rookie teammate on 159 (+15).

Four players took part in this week's competition as Wheaton's B team. This group was led by Lance Otremba, who returned to action with a two-day mark of 161 (+17) to tie for 42nd overall. Ryan McLain carded an 83 in yesterday's opening round and dropped this total by three strokes today to finish with a combined tally of 163. Jackson Swartz shot a two-day mark of 164 (+20) following round scores of 81 and 83, respectively. Aidan Quinlivan had nearly identical round performances of 82 yesterday and 83 today to complete the event on a total mark of 165.

Wheaton's action-packed eight-day stretch will continue this weekend as the Thunder travel to Decatur on Friday and Saturday for Millikin University's "Take Back the Night Challenge". The two-round event is scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM on Friday, with the second round set for a 8:00 AM start on Saturday. The tournament is Wheaton's last competition of the regular season before the team heads to the CCIW Championship on the first weekend of May.