SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Middle Atlantic Conference Championship season officially opens this weekend and the Susquehanna University golf team is favored to win its sixth-straight conference championship when it plays in the 14-team MAC Championship Tournament, Saturday and Sunday, at the Shawnee Country Club in Shawnee-on-the-Delaware.
In addition to golf, the Crusader men’s tennis team will also complete its 2000 season by sending two players for singles, and two doubles teams to the MAC Individual Championships at Elizabethtown College on Friday and Saturday.
MAC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Under 11th-year head coach and Susquehanna Director of Athletics Don Harnum, the Crusaders have either won or shared seven MAC titles. They tied Gettysburg for their first MAC title in 1992, and have now won it the past five years (1995-99) – also tying with Moravian in 1997. Harnum has also directed his team to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in three of the past four years, placing 16th a year ago for its best finish.
This spring, Susquehanna won its own 16-team Susquehanna Invitational on April 13, and was second out of 13 teams in its Tee-Off Tournament on April 23. The Crusaders were also fourth out of a talented 16-team field at the Cross Creek Apparel District II Invitational at the Hershey Country Club East Course on April 16 and 17. They have only lost to a MAC school once this spring, losing by three shots to this weekend’s host King’s College while placing just sixth at the York College Invitational in the opener on March 20. The Crusaders have come back to beat King’s the last three times they’ve faced each other in tournaments – most recently by a whopping 19 shots at the Cross Creek event, which was Susquehanna’s last action.
“We have a shot at winning it if our end-of-the-year trend continues. We take a lot of pride in competing for this title,” said Harnum
“We probably need a good showing at our conference championship to solidify a spot in the NCAA Tournament again this year. If we don’t play well this weekend, we could make it tough on ourselves.”
The NCAA Division III Championship Tournament field will be chosen on Tuesday, May 2.
Harnum’s team will be led this weekend by sophomore Ryan Franks (Huntingdon/Huntingdon H.S.), who has the low stroke average this spring at 79.5 – shooting a low round of 77 on the home course twice. Franks finished third at MACs last season – just five shots behind champion and Susquehanna graduate Joe Rossi. He also tied junior teammate Chris Scagliotti (Allentown/Emmaus H.S.) for the team’s second-best score at nationals, placing 66th with a 72-hole total of 320. Franks averaged 77.6 in limited action during the fall.
The hottest Crusader golfer entering MACs is freshman Dan Wolf (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai H.S.), who is averaging 81.6 this spring, but 78.0 in the last three rounds. Wolf tied for the low round at the Susquehanna Invitational with a five-over-par 75, also shooting that score at the Western Maryland Invitational on March 25.
Scagliotti is second on the team in stroke average this spring at 80.5 with a low round of 77 at the Susquehanna Tee-Off Tournament. He also was 66th at nationals last year, shooting a 320 for 72 holes.
Junior Hugh Leahy III (Wilmington, Del./Archmere Academy) joined Scagliotti studying in England during the fall, and has had trouble regaining some of the form which made
him the MAC individual champion as a freshman and runner-up last season. Leahy is averaging just 85.3 this spring, but still has the potential to post a low number – like he did with a 76 at Western Maryland. Leahy posted a 240 (80.0 avg.) while finishing second by two shots last season, and had a 199 in 45 holes (79.6 avg.) to win the MAC title in 1998.
Freshmen Ryan Reid (Chambersburg/Chambersburg H.S.) rounds out the Crusader contingent and has averaged 81.3 for the spring, with a low round of 78 at both York and Western Maryland. He shot a 73 at the Bucknell Invitational during the fall – going on to finish second on the team in stroke average at 80.4.
MAC MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Injuries have plagued the Susquehanna men’s tennis season for 20th-year head coach Gary Fincke. An ankle injury will also keep top-seeded junior Tim Peters (New York, N.Y./Millbrook School) from playing at this weekend’s MAC Individual Championships. Peters was 5-1 when completing matches this spring, but was forced to default in three other matches due to illness and the ankle injury.
Without him, junior Don Eckert (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley H.S.) and sophomore Rob Logan (Mountain Top/Crestwood Area H.S.) will represent Susquehanna in the singles competition, despite nursing injuries of their own. Eckert has played primarily at number-four this season and gone 3-10, while Logan has battled a shoulder injury at fifth and sixth singles to post a 3-6 mark. Logan scored the team’s lone win in its last match at Albright, moving his career mark to 11-10.
Freshman second-seed Brian Ardire (Hummelstown/Hershey H.S.) will join junior captain Ben DeBell (Concord, N.H./Londonderry H.S.) as one Crusader doubles team at MACs, with junior Ben Stapelfeld (Duncansville/Hollidaysburg Area H.S.) and senior Ian Drummond (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan H.S.) being the other team. Ardire and DeBell have dropped both of their matches at number-one doubles thus far, while Stapelfeld and Drummond have won once in five matches at second and third doubles.
With all the injuries, Susquehanna entered its final match vs. Wilkes Wednesday at 2-11 overall. The Crusaders were 1-5 and finished sixth in the MAC Commonwealth Conference.
