Reload, Repeat!
The Roadrunner Men's and Women's Golf Team closed out Region XIX play this season with the men eking out a too-close-for-comfort 4-stroke victory over their frequent rivals from County College of Morris.
The Runners, who finished the season undefeated in Region XIX play, once again relied on their substantial depth to survive an incredible tournament by Max Mandas, a 2nd year player from Morris, who posted personal bests on BOTH days of the tournament. Mandas played well enough to find himself deadlocked with returning All-American Patrick Murray from Union College to determine the individual medalist for the tournament after shooting 75 on day 1 and 73 on day 2. Murray needed just one hole to capture the individual title, but Mandas' fine play certainly made things more difficult for the Roadrunners.
Captain Logan Perrone battled and turned in a pair of 82s while playing alongside Murray and Mandas. However, the lowest-scoring Roadrunner was freshman Nick Iuliucci, whose 82 on day 1 and a personal best 78 on day 2 , was exactly what the Runners needed to stave off Morris. The Roadrunners' depth was again the deciding factor, as Eddie Mazurkiewicz, Paul Welker, and Hayes Hulitt each took turns contributing to the winning effort.
Mazurkiewicz's 82 on day 1, matched the day 1 efforts of Perrone and Iuliucci. Welker added an 86 for a team total of 332, which was good enough for a 4-shot lead over Morris. As it turned out, those were the 4 strokes they needed to handle Mandas' heroics on day 2, as the Runners settled for a day 2 tie (336) with Morris.
When discussing his team's performance, Coach Guy Davidson, who picked up his 2nd consecutive Region XIX Coach of the Year Award praised the total team effort. "This tournament truly sums up the way we've approached the entire season. Many golf teams are a collection of individuals. We are decidedly different. We practice together, we play together, we look out for each other, and we trust each other. Our message to our team was simple...trust in the work you've put in, trust in your teammates to handle their business, and trust your teammates to have your back if you slip. The fact that every member of our starting five contributed at least one score to the winning effort speaks to our depth and our ability to perform under pressure."
"Though we've been consistently anchored by Logan, Nick, and Eddie, Paul Welker has become increasingly more important to our team scoring. Hayes Hulitt stepped up to the tee on 18 on Tuesday thinking he needed to par the hole for us to win after a math discrepancy in the clubhouse. He proceeded to stripe the ball down the middle of the fairway before getting the news that we had some wiggle room. I was extremely proud of the guts he showed on the last two holes just to finish out the round and seal the deal for us."
"I couldn't be more proud of our women. Nobody on our team works harder on their game than our captain Nancy Davidson and she truly battled to fight her way back into the runner-up spot for the second year in a row. Alaina Villari picked up a golf club for the first time less than 2 years ago and has turned herself into a legitimate college golfer who can score less than 100 playing under college rules on tough courses. Lanie Guzman continued her development by getting a taste of what it means to play in these high-stakes tournaments and her leadership will be important for next year's team."
"As important for me as winning the Region Championship is, the most significant piece of doing so is being able to take my ENTIRE team to the National Tournament in Chautauqua, NY. If we hadn't won Region XIX, we would have only had two men qualify to go. Now, we're taking all six men and all three women. Taking a trip like this together significantly impacts their overall experience at our college. I'm so glad that we'll be able to have them all be a part of it."
Tournament Wrap-up
Once again, Coach Guy Davidson watched his plan work perfectly. You know -- the one where one or more players pick up the slack when their teammates are having an off day.
Yes, that plan once again helped the Rpadrunner Men's Golf team hang on to win their second straight NJCAA Region 19 championship at Ashbrook Golf Club Tuesday -- and this time the heroes proved to be freshmen Paul Welker and Hayes Hulitt, each of whom finished strong to prevent County College of Morris from making a big comeback to steal away the coveted crown. The Runners emerged as team champion with a two-day total of 668 followed by Morris's 672 score. Lehigh Carbon placed third overall.
Welker completed his round with a total score of 175, grabbing a key win on the final hole, while Hulitt's play on his last hole allowed the Runners to maintain a slim lead. Freshman Nick Iuliucci also pulled through with perhaps his finest outing of the season, shooting a 78 on the back nine and finishing as team medalist with a solid 160 score.
"Fortunately our lineup is deep enough where someone is always picking up someone else," said Davidson. "We trust each other and we have each other's backs."
Overall the Runners indeed showed plenty of depth and resiliency on a day when several competing players -- such as Union's Patrick Murray, Morris's Max Mandas and RC Cumberland's Mateo Medina -- brought their "A" games to the course. Murray and Mandas finished tied at 148 each before engaging in a playoff round won by Murray. Medina checked in at 159.
The Runners, however, landed four players in the top 10, enabling all four to earn All-Region 19 honors - Iuliucci (160), Logan Perrone (164), Eddie Mazurkiewicz (173) and Welker (175). And of course, Hulitt was close behind that group with a 176 score.
RCSJ opened up an 11-stroke lead at one point before holding off a strong Morris rally toward the end.
"It seems like every team here this week really played well, and they made us sweat it out," said Davidson. "Luckily our depth carried us."
On the women's side, RCSJ's Nancy Davidson battled hard, turning in a 189 score, and placed a solid runner-up to Lehigh Carbon's Sydni Sundstrom, who was medalist at 184. The Runners' Alaina Villari placed fourth overall, finishing with a score of 198.
"Nancy worked hard to score her points and she battled all the way to get back into contention against a top opponent," said Coach Davidson. "She played extremely well overall as did Alaina (Villari)."