ALAMEDA — The recent ascension of the Stanislaus State men's golf team continued this week, as the Warriors earned their second straight top-five finish with a third-place showing at the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout, hosted by Cal State East Bay at the South Course of the Chuck Corica Golf Complex.
 
Stanislaus State placed third out of 17 teams, finishing with a 10-under total score of 854. The Warriors were only two strokes behind second-place Cal State San Bernardino and eight behind team champion Cal State Monterey Bay. They beat four other CCAA teams, with the CCAA Championship looming in four weeks.
 
Michael Jura is showing an ascension of his own this spring. He finished third on Tuesday after not finishing higher than 17th the Warriors' first three tournaments of the spring. Jura shot an 8-under 208, with below-par rounds of 67 in the first and 68 in the third. He was only two strokes behind medalist winners Liam Allder of Cal State Monterey Bay and Ananjan Kaushik of Cal State East Bay (-10).
 
Chris Ebster tied for 14th with three consecutive rounds of one-under 71. Brad Sparrer posted two one-under 71s, then shot an even-par 72 in the final round to tie for 20th. Armaan Sahota and Tim Sauer both tied for 69th with three-round totals of 227 (+11).
 
The Warriors take a week off before hosting their own Hanny Invitational at the Turlock Golf & Country Club on March 28 and 29.