HERSHEY, Pa. – Led by Freedom Conference Player of the Year Mike Cresci (Belvedere, Calif.), the Manhattanville men’s golf team put together arguably the two most dominating rounds in program history at the 2010 Freedom Conference Championships, winning the fifth conference championship in program annals by 39 strokes at the Hershey Country Club East Course on Saturday and Sunday.
For the Valiants, the title marks the fifth conference championship in 11 years of varsity golf, but the first in three seasons as a member of the Freedom Conference. The team’s last title came in 2004, when the Valiants won the last of four consecutive Skyline Conference Championships.
Due to the team’s dominating performance in which no Valiant finished worse than seventh place, it is no wonder that Manhattanville found its name all over the conference postseason awards, led by the program’s third conference Player of the Year in Cresci. Junior Lem Randall (Snow Lake, Manitoba) was named the Freedom Newcomer of the Year after a fifth-place finish, while head coach Nikhil Kumar was honored as Freedom Coach of the Year.
The Valiants were even better represented on the All-Conference team, as all five Manhattanville representatives were named to either the first or second team. In addition to Cresci and Randall, seniors Mike Bowers (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Javier Vargas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) were honored with spots on the first team, while freshman Daniel Skelton (Cambridgeshire, England) earned an All-Conference second-team selection as well.
With the victory, Manhattanville advances to the NCAA Div. III Championships for the first time in school history, with the four-day event taking place on May 11-14 at Hershey Links and Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pa.
After a record-breaking 297 on day one, the final result was never truly in doubt on day two. Nevertheless, Manhattanville increased its lead by 13 strokes on Sunday by shooting a team round of 309, putting the Valiants 39 strokes ahead of second-place King’s (Pa.) College with a two-day score of 606. That total destroys the previous school record for a two-day tournament, rounds of 622 achieved in 2008 and 2009.
Cresci led the way for Manhattanville, earning medalist and Player of the Year honors with a two-day score of 149. After a low round of 72 on Saturday, the sophomore put together the third-lowest round of the day on Sunday with a solid 77, finishing at seven-over for the event. His two-day score is the fourth-lowest two-day score in program history and the lowest since September 2007.
Bowers also stayed right where he was after day one of competition, finishing in sole possession of second place with a +9 151. The senior matched Cresci with a day-two 77 after carding a 74 on the first day of the event, posting the best two-day score of his career.
Vargas made Manhattanville’s biggest leap up the leaderboard on Sunday, tying for the low round of the day by shooting 74. Combined with an 80 on Saturday, Vargas moved up six spots from 10th to fourth place in his final conference championship event.
Not to be outdone, Randall clinched conference Newcomer of the Year honors by shooting a 155 for the weekend, shooting 81 on day two after a first-day 74 to tie him for fifth place overall with Bucky Aeppli of Misericordia University.
Showcasing the Valiants’ tremendous team depth, its last finisher – Skelton – came in seventh place overall. The freshman carded rounds of 77 and 83 to finish the tournament at 160, tying with Mike Wagner of King’s (Pa.) for the seventh spot.
Manhattanville will have just over a week to prepare for the NCAA Championships, with practice rounds scheduled for May 9 and 10 before the four-round event begins on May 11. In addition to the Freedom Championships, the Valiants also placed fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region Invitational held at Hershey in early April, giving the team no reason why they can’t make some more history in mid-May.