The GW men’s golf team, led by junior Thomas Blankvoort, tied for seventh place out of 18 teams last weekend at the St. Bonaventure/Keenan Classic in Olean, N.Y.

The Colonials tied Cleveland State University with a two-round total of 608 (299-309), 16 strokes off the pace set by American, which set a tournament record with a total of 592.

We were pleased the first day, but we didn’t play nearly as well the second day, GW head coach Scott Allen said. I was disappointed that we didn’t make the move that we were hoping for.

The Colonials won the Keenan Classic last year with a score of 607.

The teams are getting better in our division, Allen said. They are playing harder and they are more competitive then ever.

Blankvoort played two solid rounds, firing a six-over-par 146 (71-75) to tie for eighth among 90 players.

I was disappointed in the outcome, Blankvoort said. I gave it away in the end. I had a chance to win the tournament but I didn’t quite close it out.

With two shots away from first place, he was right in there, Allen said. He missed a short on the 17th hole and then a medium on the 18th hole. If he had made both of them then he would have been in the playoff.

Ryan Day (149) and Bryan Derdenger (150) also kept GW competitive.

(Derdenger) is starting to return to last year’s form when he had the best scoring average on the team, Allen said. Ryan has stepped up his game and has been consistently one of our top three players.

Despite his 15th place finish, Day was not completely impressed with his performance.

I did alright, Day said. It wasn’t too bad, but I did throw some shots away. Team wise, we didn’t make any huge mistakes, but we threw strokes that we shouldn’t have been giving up.

Brad Friedlander (163) placed 72nd in the Classic, finishing fourth on the team

Brad struggled the second day as well as Mike Goldman, Allen said. Goldman had triple boogies on two of his last four holes on the second day. That hurt us quite a bit.

I need to work on everything this week, mostly my short game, Friedlander said. It was ugly.

This weekend GW hosts the 15-team Rehoboth Beach Invitational in Rehoboth Beach, Del., and will face regional teams including American and the University of Maryland.

Maryland is the favorite – they are pretty strong, Allen said. If we play our best, I am confident that we will be right up there with Maryland.