Crusader Golfers Return Four Starters, Seek 5th-Straight MAC Title
Trip Back to NCAA Championships for Third Time in Four Seasons
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — Unlike most coaches, 10th-year Susquehanna University head golf coach Don Harnum isn’t trying to hide the fact that his 1999 team has a good chance to win its fifth-straight Middle Atlantic Conference championship and earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the third time in four seasons.
Why should he? After all, his team returns its top four players and all but one starter from last season’s squad, which scored an impressive 25-shot victory in the rain-shortened (45 holes) MAC Championships and went on to finish 22nd at nationals. The remaining starting position will go to a freshman who is not only shooting lower scores in that spot, but could be the team’s best player by season’s end.
Harnum’s team will open its spring season Tuesday, March 23, hosting its 11-team Susquehanna University Tee-Off Tournament at the Susquehanna Valley Country Club.
“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t repeat as conference champions and make it back to the NCAA Tournament. We have the same team back and have replaced our graduated player, who was our weakest player, with a better player,” said Harnum, who has guided his teams to five MAC titles in his first nine seasons, also coaching golfers to the national tournament three times.
Battling for the top spot in the lineup will be senior co-captain Joe Rossi (Horsham/Hatboro-Horsham H.S.) and sophomore Hugh Leahy, III (Wilmington, Del./Archmore Academy), who is the defending MAC individual champion.
A three-year starter and letterwinner, Rossi earned the team’s Low Stroke Average Award for a second-straight year last spring as he averaged 78.0 for his 13 rounds. He tied for third at the MAC Championships with a 45-hole total of 204, also tying for 73rd at Division III nationals with a 72-hole total of 312 (79-76-81-76). He also had the team’s low stroke average of 76.7 during six rounds in the fall, including a season low round of 70.
“We consistently need some low numbers from Joe to be a national contender,” said Harnum. “He’s played very well when we’ve needed it in big tournaments.”
Leahy won the MAC individual title last season by four strokes with a 45-hole total of 199 in very inclement conditions. He played in all 14 rounds last spring and finished second on the team in average at 79.4 per round, also tying for 68th at Division III nationals with a 72-hole total of 310 (76-80-77-77). He is rounding into shape this spring as he shot a 73 to lead the Crusader contingent to their 304 in Carolina.
“Hugh was in the low 70s in every round down south. He’s playing awfully well right now, just like you’d expect from a defending MAC champion,” said Harnum.
A varsity starter most of last season, Chris Scagliotti (Allentown/Emmaus H.S.) played in 12 rounds last spring and averaged 81.5. He was tied for 13th at the MAC Championships and shot a 329 (86-79-86-78) for the 72-hole Division III Championship event. He also posted some low scores down south, including a 75.
A three-year starter and letterwinner, senior Corey Troxell (Clearfield/Clearfield Area H.S.) joins Rossi as a team co-captain. He played in 11 rounds last spring and averaged 80.7 strokes per round. He tied with Scagliotti for 13th at the MAC Championships, and tied for 92nd at nationals. Troxell averaged 80.5 strokes per round last fall, and Harnum believes “he will consistently score between 75 and 82 this season.”
Freshman Ryan Franks (Huntingdon/Huntingdon H.S.) rounds out the starting five and could be its best by season’s end — averaging 80.2 strokes per round to finish second on the team in the fall. He also had a 75 in one of the final rounds down south.
Harnum also expects senior and past letterwinner Ryan Schomber (Altoona/Altoona Area H.S.) to also see some varsity time. Schomber studied abroad last spring, but was a starter as a sophomore — posting an 82.8 average in his 12 rounds that spring.
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