AMARILLO, Texas (October 13, 2026) – Leyton Hiebert authored one of the finest rounds in Lubbock Christian University history Tuesday, firing an 8-under-par 63 to surge into second place individually and lead the Chaparrals to a tie for third at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational at Amarillo Country Club.
 
LCU closed the 54-hole event with a 277 (-7), its lowest round of the season and the third-lowest team round in program history. Combined with Monday's rounds of 281 and 287, the Chaparrals finished at 845 (-7), tied with Midwestern State for third in the 15-team field. The 845 is the second-lowest 54-hole team total in program history, trailing only the 844 recorded at the San Juan Intercollegiate on Sept. 22, 2025. The third-place finish is also LCU's best team result since placing second at the Oak Tree Invitational on March 17.
 
Hiebert provided the centerpiece with a final round that vaulted him 18 spots on the leaderboard. Starting on No. 1, he immediately went to work, birdieing the opening hole before adding birdies at Nos. 4, 7, 8 and 9 to turn in a 5-under 30.
 
He continued the charge on the back nine, adding birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 17 for a 3-under 33 coming home and a bogey-free 63. The score is the second-lowest individual round in LCU history, behind only Hayden Bowman's program-record 62 at the San Juan Intercollegiate on Sept. 22, 2025. Hiebert's 8-under round was also the lowest score relative to par by a Chaparral since Bowman's 9-under performance in that same San Juan Intercollegiate.
 
The closing 63 gave Hiebert rounds of 70, 71 and 63 for a 204 (-9) total, the second-lowest 54-hole individual score in program history. Bowman's 199 at the 2025 San Juan Intercollegiate remains the school record. Hiebert finished one stroke behind medalist Braden Stokes of UT Tyler, who won at 10-under 203. The runner-up finish is LCU's best individual result since Bowman also finished second at the San Juan Intercollegiate.
 
Hiebert's work extended beyond the closing 63. He finished the tournament with 16 birdies, second-most in the field, while playing the par-5 holes at 7-under with a 4.22 scoring average, tied for third-best. He also played the par-3s at 1-under and recorded LCU's lone eagle of the tournament (Dylan Ford also recorded an eagle, but was playing as an individual).
 
Freshman Kaden Frierson continued the impressive start to his collegiate career with a 2-under 69 Tuesday, establishing a new collegiate-low round. He finished tied for 11th at 209 (-4) after rounds of 70, 70 and 69.  Frierson has now posted three consecutive rounds of 70 or better, and his 209 ranks tied for the eighth-lowest 54-hole tournament score in LCU program history. He finished the tournament with 14 birdies, tied among the leaders in the field.
 
Hunter Welch closed with a 1-over 72 and finished tied for 36th at 217 (+4). Welch opened the tournament with a 70, matching his best round as a Chaparral, before adding rounds of 75 and 72. Hudson Reagan followed Monday's 78 and even-par 71 with a 73 (+2) Tuesday to finish tied for 58th at 222 (+9), while Noel Bondesson completed LCU's lineup with a 75 (+4) and finished tied for 65th at 223 (+10).
 
Competing as an individual, Dylan Ford finished 80th at 230 (+17) after rounds of 72, 78 and 80. His opening 72 matched the lowest round of his collegiate career.
 
The Chaparrals finished the tournament with 53 birdies, fifth-most in the field, along with 159 pars and one eagle. LCU ranked third in par-3 scoring at 3.13 (+8), sixth on the par-4s at 4.09 (+15) and sixth on the par-5s at 4.71 (-13).
 
Hutchinson Community College captured the team championship at 829 after rounds of 279, 272 and 278. Oklahoma Christian finished second at 832, while LCU and Midwestern State shared third at 845. DBU rounded out the top five at 852.
 
Stokes claimed medalist honors at 203 (-10) after rounds of 68, 67 and 68. Hiebert followed at 204, while Hutchinson's Hugo Duquaine and Oklahoma Christian's Christian Yanovitch tied for third at 205. Yanovitch supplied the tournament's lowest round Tuesday with a 10-under 61.
 
LCU's 277 Tuesday was its lowest round since the program-record 274 at the San Juan Intercollegiate last September and capped a tournament in which the Chaparrals produced their second-lowest 54-hole team total, a runner-up individual finish and two of the better individual 54-hole totals in program history.
 
The Chaparrals return to competition Oct. 26 at the NCAA Division II South Central/West Regional Preview at The Dominion Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.