The Roadrunners Men's and Women's Golf Teams are underway! The defending back-to-back Region XIX and Garden State Athletic Conference Champions came out of the blocks quickly on March 31, firing a team score of 322 under extremely windy conditions at Seaview Bay, one of the finest courses in NJ and host of several LPGA tournaments. The Runners were led by Captain Nick Iuliucci and newcomer Julian Boyer who both shot 77. First year player Connor Eberly's 82 and fellow rookie Andrew Michalski's 86 were the other scores that counted on the day.
The men finished one stroke behind host Ocean County College (321) and the Stockton University Men's Club Team (321). Coach Sean Fawcett's Union squad is much improved and featured three players who scored in the 70's including tournament medalist Josh Hybbeneth who posted a 75 on his home course.
Perennial rivals CC Morris and Union County College did not make the trip due to the forecasted potential tornados that could have impacted the evening commute. RCSJ Cumberland now fields a full team including returning All-American Mateo Medina. The Dukes finished 4th on the day.
Roadrunner Coach Guy Davidson commented on the men's performance:
Our congratulations to Ocean and Stockton for coming out on top. The match today was important for our team in that it demonstrates how important every single stroke is in a team tournament. Coach Fawcett has put together a great team at Ocean. It seems that we also have a competitive squad. It was good to see Nick and Julian get off to a good start and to see Connor play smart, consistent golf. I'm encouraged by the play of some of the players who weren't in the lineup today, who actually scored very well. This is a strong lineup that I hope will continue to make each other better. We're looking forward to our next match.
The Roadrunner Women's Team, which includes newcomers Miya Villari, Sammi Sutter, Nevaeh Miller, and Ashley Ward, despite being brand new to golf have progressed quickly enough to be able to post legitimate 9-hole scores while following USGA rules. Returning All-American Lanie Guzman has been leading the group and showing them how to be college golfers. The Runners are the ONLY complete women's team in Region XIX and are looking forward to being able to complete 18 holes within the next week.
Coach Davidson said of his women's team:
For being new to the game, our women are WAY ahead of schedule. A lot of that is due to their athleticism and competitive approach. The rest of the credit goes to Assistant Coach Brian Perino, who has been working very diligently with them on building a repetitive swing. It's nice to have Lanie again and to see how far she's come after being new to the game last year and to make sure the others understand what they need to about playing on our team. I'm very proud of our women!
Union County College Invitational at Galloping Hill: 4/7/25
The Roadrunners got their first look at the County College of Morris Titans, runners-up to the Gloucester men in both Region XIX and the Garden State Athletic Conference in each of the past two seasons, host Union County College, and Raritan Valley County College who now fields a full team. Conditions were, well...horrific. 38 degrees, steady rain and mist throughout the day, and standing water on many parts of the course.
The Runner men were unfazed by the weather and posted a team score of 319, one of their best performances of Coach Davidson's 5-year tenure with the team. Freshman Andrew Michalski had the team's low score (75), followed by Captain Nick Iuliucci (80), the consistent Connor Eberly (81), and newcomer Colin Pape making his debut with an 83.
The Roadrunners bested CC Morris (336) by 17 strokes. RCSJ Cumberland (367), host Union (377), and Raritan Valley (382) rounded out the scoring. RCSJ Cumberland's Mateo Medina was the medalist with a score of 72 on the soggy track.
The vastly improved Ocean squad did not make the trip.
The Roadrunner women continued making progress toward playing full rounds by posting 9-hole scores at Galloping Hill. Four of the five women posted scores in the 60s, led by Sammi Sutter (61), Miya Villari (63), Lanie Guzman (66), and Nevaeh Miller (66). Ashley Ward scored a 74.
Galloping Hill was last year's Region Champion Sydni Sundstrom's Region XIX debut who posted an 18-hole score of 89. Sydni is now competing for CC Morris after Lehigh Carbon County College dropped their golf program.
Coach Guy Davidson reacted to his team's victory:
We've prepared the entire preseason to be able to play good golf in bad weather and I think that was evident in our performance today. Andrew played very well today and the rest of us just played smart golf while minimizing mistakes. I can't recall a match where everyone played well enough that a round of 84 didn't count for us. We're looking forward to a complete field including all the Region XIX teams at Flanders Valley next week.
Our women continue to progress. Playing golf in this kind of weather is much more difficult and they handled it exceptionally well. I would expect to see at least three of the women to post 18-hole scores next week at either Flanders Valley or Running Deer.