Lopatcong, NJ - Long Island captured its first league title and Bobby Myles (Fairfield, CT) (pictured) of Central Connecticut State won the individual crown at the Northeast Conference Men's Golf Championship at The Architects Club.
The Blackbirds, whose previous best finish was tied for fourth in 2001 and last year, topped the field on the final day by shooting a tournament-best 295 to close the championship with 612. They were paced by Kevin Allo (San Bernardino, CA) and Mike Munoz (Yucaipa, CA), who each fired 149 to close tied for second and shot 71 and 73, respectively, over the final 18.
Also a part of the championship squad was Bradley Corcoran (Mississauga, Ontario) with 152 that included a final-round 73, Sean Donnelly (Mississauga, Ontario) with 165 and Norman LeVesque (Yucaipa, CA) with 166, including a final-round 78. Their efforts helped LIU also clinch its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
"It is the biggest thing for LIU golf," said coach Lonnie Barton, who was tabbed NEC Coach of the Year for the second time with the men's team (2000). "It took us eight years from when we started. We went through an adopted class and recruiting class. We brought in players we knew could compete. The guys bought into the fact that we were good enough to win. We more than got the job done. The coach-of-the-year award belongs to them as much as it does me.
"I would like to thank (assistant coach) Mike Michaelides for stepping in without missing a beat and achieving our first conference championship. Hopefully this is the first of many more and it just shows what hard work and dedication can do."
Barton, named NEC Coach of the Year with the women's squad in 2002, missed a majority of this season due to illness. He remains the only coach in league history so honored with both teams.
Robert Morris was second with 621, followed by Central Connecticut State with 627, Wagner at 633 and Quinnipiac with 634. Monmouth and St. Francis (PA) closed tied for sixth with 639, ahead of Mount St. Mary's with 652, Sacred Heart with 656 and Fairleigh Dickinson with 662.
Myles enjoyed an exceptional closing day, shooting 70 that included three birdies to finish the tournament with a 5-over-par 147. Today's round was the championship low and tied for the eighth-best round in conference history.
Myles carded three of his four birdies over the final round and was third with 23 pars.
Sean Piatrowski (Sayville, NY) of Wagner finished tied for second and defending champion Eric Couture (Laval, Quebec) of St. Francis (PA) was fifth with 750. Bradley Corcoran (Mississauga, Ontario) of LIU closed sixth with 152, including a final-round 73, and Scott Dizel (Parkesburg, PA) of Robert Morris was seventh with 153.
Damien Mackman (Swindon, England) and Ryan Mikita (Aliquippa, PA) of Robert Morris each were tied for eighth with 154 and Brian Hart (Somerset, NJ) of Monmouth was 10th with 155. The top 10 players each make the All-NEC team.
Northeast Conference Champ.
The Architects Club Lopatcong, NJ
Dates: 05/03 - 05/04 (Today:05-04-2004)
Par: 71
Yardage: 6863
(Final Results)
Fin. School Scores
1 Long Island U-Brklyn 317 295 612 +44
2 Robert Morris Univ. 315 306 621 +53
3 Central Conn. St. U. 326 301 627 +59
4 Wagner College 318 315 633 +65
5 Quinnipiac Universit 314 320 634 +66
6 Monmouth University 324 315 639 +71
St. Francis-Pennsyl. 318 321 639 +71
8 Mount St. Mary's Co. 328 324 652 +84
9 Sacred Heart Univ. 336 320 656 +88
10 Fairleigh Dickinson 333 329 662 +94
Fin. Name School Scores
1 Bobby Myles C. Conn St 77 70 147 +5
2 Kevin Allo LIU 78 71 149 +7
Mike Munoz LIU 76 73 149 +7
Sean Piatrowski Wagner 76 73 149 +7
5 Eric Couture St Fran PA 76 74 150 +8
6 Bradley Corcoran LIU 79 73 152 +10
7 Scott Dizel RMU 78 75 153 +11
8 Damien Mackman RMU 81 73 154 +12
Ryan Mikita RMU 78 76 154 +12
10 Brian Hart Monmouth 76 79 155 +13
11 Andrew Hill The Mount 79 77 156 +14
Craig Cyr Quinnipiac 74 82 156 +14
13 Mike Moreland C. Conn St 82 75 157 +15
Andy Beittel Monmouth 84 73 157 +15
15 Peter Aloisio Wagner 79 79 158 +16
Martin Pettigrew St Fran PA 74 84 158 +16
17 Tyler Wright Monmouth 80 79 159 +17
Mike Drzata Quinnipiac 79 80 159 +17
19 Steve Velardi Quinnipiac 82 78 160 +18
20 Dustin Ledda Sac. Heart 81 80 161 +19
Eric Pentore C. Conn St 84 77 161 +19
Nick Martichenko RMU 78 83 161 +19
23 Brendan Ray C. Conn St 83 79 162 +20
Dan Hart Quinnipiac 82 80 162 +20
25 Colby Jacobs The Mount 79 84 163 +21
Christopher Klamkin Wagner 80 83 163 +21
27 Chris Lombardo Wagner 84 80 164 +22
Kevin Gordon Sac. Heart 85 79 164 +22
Nick Wheeler St Fran PA 84 80 164 +22
John Flanagan FDU 83 81 164 +22
Chris Wagner The Mount 86 78 164 +22
Andy O'Grady Quinnipiac 79 85 164 +22
33 Constantinos Pagonis FDU 80 85 165 +23
Albert Ruggiero Sac. Heart 86 79 165 +23
Sean Donnelly LIU 84 81 165 +23
36 Matt Jacobs FDU 82 84 166 +24
J. Norman LeVesque LIU 88 78 166 +24
38 Christopher DeCarlo Wagner 83 84 167 +25
Doug Foley FDU 88 79 167 +25
40 Peter Catanzaro C. Conn St 87 81 168 +26
Rob Thurston Sac. Heart 86 82 168 +26
Brian Pepe Monmouth 84 84 168 +26
43 Mike Hammond St Fran PA 84 85 169 +27
Brett Smith St Fran PA 86 83 169 +27
Greg Campanile Monmouth 84 85 169 +27
Mike Billiris The Mount 84 85 169 +27
47 Sam Schwartzmiller RMU 91 82 173 +31
Mike Giaquinto Sac. Heart 84 89 173 +31
49 Jonathon Davis The Mount 90 87 177 +35
50 Dominick Carbone FDU 99 93 192 +50