INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Following the program's tournament win at the 13-team Hurricane Invitational hosted by Georgia Southwestern, the Southern Arkansas Men's Golf team climbed ten spots to land inside the Golfstat Division II Top 25 Poll at No. 24 nationally; the highest national ranking for the Mulerider Golf program in its Division II Era (1995-96).
 
Generating the jump was SAU's defeat of Young Harris which entered the 54-hole Hurricane Invitational as Golfstat's No. 6 ranked team. The Mountain Lions are the highest ranked team that the Muleriders have beaten in the team's 24-year membership as an NCAA program.
 
Tuesday's victory in Albany, Georgia, marks the continuation of one of the best seasons for the SAU Men's Golf Team in program history. It was the first spring tournament win for the program since 2015 and the second victory this season after the Muleriders captured the GAC Preview team title in early September.
 
Overall, it is the fourth victory for the SAU Men under fourth-year head coach Ben Sanders, which ties him for the program record in wins. His first two tournament wins came in the fall campaigns of years one and two: the 2015 Ranger Fall Invitational (1st of 6) and the 2016 Oklahoma Baptist Fall Invitational (1st of 8).
 
Wednesday's recognition as one of the Top 25 teams is the country is not the first time the program has received national acclaim this season. On October 18, Southern Arkansas appeared in the Golfstat rankings for the first time in program history as the Muleriders entered the Top 25 poll at No. 25 in addition to receiving 14 votes in the Bushnell Golfweek Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time ever.
 
This past fall, the Mulerider Men, who were picked seventh in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll, solidified themselves as one of the top teams in the Great American Conference. In addition to the team win at the GAC Preview, Southern Arkansas finished second in a deep 17-team field at Henderson State's Battle for the Belt/Central Region Preview and fourth at the 11-team Missouri Southern Fall Invitational. The final two rounds of the Holiday Inn Express Classic, the team's final tournament of the fall, were canceled due to rain, but not before the Muleriders placed 6th of 18 after an opening round 292; just eight strokes back of the leader.
 
Impressively, the Muleriders have posted nine team rounds this season at par or better. In the last two seasons combined, which total 48 rounds from 2016-17 to 2017-18, Southern Arkansas managed just three par or better team rounds. Of the 15 lowest team rounds in program history, the Muleriders, this season, have produced nine of those rounds including the top two: an opening round 275 at the GAC Preview and a 276 in the second round of the same tournament.
 
As a team, the SAU Men totaled 163 birdies and four eagles in their ten rounds this past fall and currently own season program records in par-3 scoring (3.1859), par-4 scoring (4.0892), and par-5 scoring (4.7214).
 
The finish percentage of the 2018-19 Muleriders sits at 85.2%, which is currently 34.7 percentage points better than the next best season finish percentage. The program's second-best scoring average in a season came in 2016-17 when that year's team posted an average score of 300.46 at 13.63 versus par. This season, however, the Muleriders, in 13 rounds, have produced an average score of 285.54 at -2.15 versus par.
 
#24 Southern Arkansas now prepares to host the Arkansas Collegiate on Monday and Tuesday, March 11 and 12 at the Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Arkansas. It will be the first home event for the Muleriders under Sanders and the first time that the Southern Arkansas Men will compete at Mystic Creek since the spring of 2015; the last spring tournament win by program before Tuesday's triumph. More information on the tournament will be made available on www.MuleriderAthletics.com in the coming days.