Men's Golf Finishes Sixth at NECC Championship
LEICESTER, Mass. - Elms College won the 2010 NECC Golf
Championship, finishing just two strokes ahead of runner up Babson
College on Sunday at Leicester Country Club.
Elms entered the day with a nine stroke lead on Springfield
College. Babson College came on strong on day two,
shooting the low round of 305 as a team. Babson's Joseph
Young was named the NECC Player of the Year after shooting a
tournament best 145 after 36 holes. Young shot a 71 on day two,
which was the lowest score of the two-day tournament.
Springfield College finished in third place, one shot behind Babson
with a 322. The Pride were led by Craig DiFranco who shot a 75
on day two and 149 overall, four shots behind Young.
After being the leader on day one, Elms' Phil Rurak fell into third
place with a round of 78. Teammates Kyle Simard and Henry Fall each
shot a 77 to help the Blazers hold onto the lead.
After the top three teams the field spread out drastically, with
Becker College holding onto the fourth spot, 44 shots behind
Springfield. John Bourque led the Hawks with a two-round total of
164. Daniel Webster finished in fifth place, carding a 684.
Mitchell College and Newbury College rounded out the field with
scores of 748 and 848, respectively.
Simard, Fall and Springfield's Kyle DiFranco had to play four extra
holes to determine the NECC Rookie of the Year. Kyle DiFranco
finally prevailed, earning Rookie of the Year honors. Elms College
coach Craig Cowles was selected by his peers as the NECC Coach of
the Year. Coach Evan McDermott and his Daniel Webster Eagles earned
the NECC Sportsmanship Award.
Earning First Team All New England Collegiate Conference honors
were Joseph Young, Craig DiFranco, Kyle DiFranco, Phil Rurak, and
Kyle Simard. Earning Second Team All New England Collegiate
Conference honors were Henry Fall, Emily Bouchard from Daniel
Webster, Bryan Eger and Matt Foley from Babson, and Thomas
Sangeloty from Springfield.
Mitchell improved its team score by nine strokes in the final
round. Following his team-low round of 85 on Saturday, freshman Matthew
Markavage fired a 93 to finish tied for 23rd overall at 178.
Seniors John
Pescheta and Dan Varga each tied
for 26th overall with two-day totals of 190, and freshman Taylor Zaldivar
finished 29th at 201. Sophomore Justin Szela carded
a 90 in the final round to rebound from being disqualified in the
first round.
Mitchell will next host a match against New Jersey City University
and Nichols College on Wednesday, October 13 at 11 a.m.