CHICO, Calif. – Cal State San Bernardino's John Kim became the individual champion of the Chico State Wildcat Classic Tuesday, beating Cal State East Bay's Easton Hether on the first playoff hole of the 54-hole tournament at Butte Creek Country Club.

Kim earned the second tournament title of his collegiate career by shooting three rounds of 4-under-par 68 to finish in a tie with Hether at 204 for 54 holes. Kim won the Battle of the Desert collegiate tournament at Bighorn in La Quinta last spring.

His victory came in the team's first tournament of the fall season which continues through October. Kim helped his teammates finish in a tie for eighth place in the tournament field of 14 teams with Cal State San Marcos at 869 strokes, five over par.

CSUSB led the field in total birdies with 56. Kim was second-best in scoring on the par-4 holes and third best in scoring on the par-5 holes.

The Yotes' Andy Navarro, a junior transfer from Cal State Dominguez Hills, tied for 21^st place with a one-over-par total of 217 on rounds of 74, 70 and 73 on the par-72 course. 

Trent Fitzgerald, a sophomore from Santee, and Kameron Hopson, a freshman from Redlands, tied for 52^nd spot with a 54-hole total of 226, 10 over par. Fitzgerald shot rounds of 72, 79 and 75 while Hopson shot 75, 74 and 77.

Another freshman, Chayce Frye from Murrieta, wound up 68^th in the field with a 16-over-par total of 232 on rounds of 77, 75 and 80.

Host Chico State won the team trophy with a 14-under-par score of 850, three shots better than Sonoma State.
 
NEXT UP: The Yotes will compete in the Bill Cullum Invitational hosted by Cal State Northridge on Oct. 9-10 followed by the Otter Invitational hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay on Oct. 16-17.