AMARILLO, Texas— Led by individual runner-up Leo Lavalle and another top-10 finish from Timmy Cavarno, the Colorado Mesa University men's golf team moved up to finish in a third place tie at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invite, which wrapped up Tuesday here at Amarillo Country Club.
 
The Mavericks finished with a 54-hole team score of 844, ten shots under par, their sixth best in program history.  They posted a 278 (-6) in Tuesday's third round after finishing the second round, which began on Monday before resuming Tuesday at 286 (+2).
 
The Mavs were in tenth place after the second round and were seventh in the overnight standings.
 
Lavalle finished second in the 89-man field and was the top NCAA golfer at 204 (-9).  The Maverick sophomore carded a 68 (-3) in the third round, beginning that round with an eagle-2 on the first hole.  He posted an even par round of 72 in the second round and matched his career-best with a 65 in Monday's first round.
 
Odessa College's and Australia native Ken Gao, claimed the individual win at 200 (-13) while leading his team to the team victory as well at 822 (-30).  The Wranglers took second at last year's National Junior College Athletic Association Championships.
 
UT Permian Basin finished second in the team standings at 835 (-17) as the Mavericks tied with Dallas Baptist for third. 
 
The Mavs were ranked 18^th in last week's Bushnell/Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll and finished higher than No. 16 Oklahoma Christian, No. 23 West Texas A&M and No. 25 Midwestern State.
 
Cavarno led the Mavs in the final round, posting a 66 (-5) and moved up 18 spots to finish in a tie for eighth.  He wrapped up the second round under par as well at 70 (-1).
 
Dylan Everett, Henry Starr and Luke Wagstaff all posted final rounds scores of 72 in the final round.  Everett finished in a 15th place tie in the final standings at 211 (-2) and joined Lavalle in recording a second round score of even par 71.
 
Starr placed 63^rd at 221 (+8) and had a 74 (+3) in the second round.  Wagstaff was one shot back and tied for 66^th at 222 (+9).  He fired a 75 (+4) in the second round.
 
The Mavericks have now completed the fall portion of the season, doing so with two victories and a 286.73 scoring average in their four team tournaments.