MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—Junior Jack Berry (Western Springs, Ill.) closed with a 1-under 70 on the way to earning medalist honors as the 22nd-ranked Babson College men's golf team placed second in the Duke Nelson Invitational at Ralph Myhre Golf Club on Sunday. 

The Beavers, who entered the day one shot ahead of Amherst, posted an 8-over 292 and finished with a 36-hole total of 588 to finish four shots behind the Mammoths (584). Middlebury (598), Trinity (603) and Skidmore (605) rounded out the top five. 

After firing a 3-under 68 in Saturday's first round, Berry made three birdies and two bogeys on Sunday to post a 36-hole score of 4-under 138 for a six-shot win and the first victory of his career. Sophomore Howie Poon (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) closed with a 4-over 75 to tie for 15th place at 7-over 149, senior Colin Fowler (Portland, Ore.) shot a final round 74 and tied for 19th position at 8-over 150, and sophomore Aman Vantipalli (Alpharetta, Ga.) fired a 73 and tied for 24th place at 9-over 151. 

Vantipalli was 4-over through his first 14 holes on Sunday before carding three birdies over his final four holes to record one of the best rounds of the day. Fowler finished the day with four birdies, two of which came after a late double bogey, and Poon and sophomore Chad Tordone (Barnstable, Mass.) both carded a pair of birdies on Sunday. 

Tordone, who shot a 7-over 78 in the final round, tied for 65th place at 16-over. 

Babson returns to action next Saturday and Sunday when it travels to Taconic Golf Club for the Williams Invitational. 

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    The Beavers have now recorded eight consecutive top-five finishes at the Duke Nelson Invitational and boast a 293.5 stroke average over their last 16 rounds at Ralph Myhre Golf Club. 
•    Berry is the first Babson player to earn medalist honors since Nicholas Gianelos '22 won the NEIGA Championship back in October 2021. 
•    Berry joins Lane Bohman '22 (2017), Jared Myers '01 (1998) and Steve Eklund '03 (2001) as Babson players to finish atop the leaderboard at the Duke Nelson Invitational, and his winning score of 4-under 136 better Bohman's mark of 2-under. 
•    Vantipalli's 73 matched his low score in four rounds at Ralph Myhre GC, while Fowler's 74 was his best in four starts at Middlebury.