HARRIS TOWNSHIP — Illinois State senior Valetin Peugnet stuck to the basics here Monday, earning medalist honors in the Island Resort NCAA Division 1 intercollegiate men’s golf tournament.

Peugnet fired a 7-under par 65 for a four-stroke victory on this sunny and mild afternoon at Sage Run Golf Club.

He finished at 13-under par 203 through the two-day, three-round tourney. Valparaiso’s (Ind.) Caleb VanArragon and University of Toledo’s N.J. Botha shared second place with 207.

Puegnet and Van Arragon each shot 72 in the opening round and 66 in the second.

“I tried to make things as simple as I could, and everything went pretty well,” said Puegnet. “I work on my short game a lot, and my tee shots went all right. Overall, everything went pretty well. This is a challenging course. It can be very hard at times. Holes No. 8 and 9 offer the best chance to make a birdie. The weather was great, but I knew it was going to be tough. You just have to play your best golf.”

Illinois State and Toledo shared the team title with 856 strokes, and third-place Michigan had 860.

“I thought our guys played very composed,” said Illinois State coach Ray Kralis. “They stayed mentally tough. They didn’t let their mistakes bother them. This is a great course, but it has a lot of places where it can trip you up. Our team gave a great effort. We needed everybody.”

Toledo led by six strokes after the first round and held a five-stroke lead after the second. The Rockets shot 284, and Illinois State had 289 in the third.

“I thought we drove the ball well this week,” said Rockets’ coach Jeff Roope. “We tried to play away from some of the flags. If you can drive the ball well here, you can put yourself in favorable position. If you can make par on a par-3 hole you’re okay, and if you can make birdie on par 5s it’s a pretty good formula. This is a great place to play. It was real windy for Saturday’s practice round and was equally windy Sunday, but the weather was great for the last 54 holes.”

Freshman Bence Kotel, who placed 14th at 215, was happy to contribute to Toledo’s success.

“I thought I played decent,” he said. “The front nine went pretty well. My tee shots went good, but I missed some short putts. That’s just something I need to work on. I’m happy for the team. This is definitely a confidence builder for us.”

South Dakota State freshman Bryson Mercier ended in a three-way tie for 69th at 237. The North Central graduate and two-time Upper Peninsula Division 3 champ hit 77 in the first round, followed by 79 and 81.

First-year head coach Pat Foppe, who was hired last week, says the D-2 Northern Michigan University Wildcats are trying to forge their own identity.

“Right now we’re just competing with ourselves,” he added. “I just want our guys to improve every time out, We’re going to hit the ground running. We’re just trying to implement the process. We have the talent. We just need some structure and discipline and the guys are doing everything I ask. It has been a long time since some of these guys played a round of golf. It doesn’t matter which division you’re in. Some of the D-3 golfers have gone on to play on the PGA Tour.”

Eric Yun was Northern’s leader in 66th at 235.

Illinois State and Toledo (Oh.) 856, Michigan 860, Kentucky 864, North Dakota State 869, Miami (Oh.) 872, Southern Illinois 874, Valparaiso (Ind.) 879, Bowling Green (Oh.) 889, South Dakota State 895, Kentucky B 901, Wisconsin-Green Bay 934, Northern Michigan 975.

Top 10 — 1, Valentin Peugnet, Illinois State, 203; 2, Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso and N.J. Botha, Toledo, 207 (tie); 4, Ben Hoagland, Michigan and Matthew Schaefer, South Dakota State, 210 (tie); 6, Barend Botha, Toledo, 211; 7, Nate Adams, North Dakota State and Garrett Wood, Kentucky, 212 (tie); 9, Hunter Thomson, Michigan and Cameron Pero, Miami (Oh.), 213 (tie).