Final Results
HERSHEY, Pa. – The Manhattanville men's golf team, led by conference Player and Rookie of the Year freshman Juan Ayala (Guayaquil, Ecuador/Inter American Academy), captured its second consecutive Freedom Conference title and the sixth conference championship in program history on Sunday afternoon, as the Valiants shot 310 on day two to beat the field by 29 strokes at the 2011 Freedom Conference Championships, held at the par-71 Hershey Country Club East Course on Saturday and Sunday.
"I am very happy for the guys," said head coach Nikhil Kumar. "We haven't been playing up to our potential as a group this spring, but despite that we went out and played well today on a challenging Hershey course. The course was playing tough both days with fast greens, tight pins and unforgiving rough."
With the victory, Manhattanville advances to its second consecutive NCAA Division III Championship, which will take place on May 10-13 at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C.
As they were last season, the Valiants were very well represented on the All-Conference teams following the event, as four of the team's five participants garnered All-Freedom honors. Leading the way was Ayala, senior Lem Randall (Yellowknife, N.W.T./Joseph H. Kerr) and sophomore Stephen Arnott (Kirkcaldy, Scotland/Kirkcaldy) on the first team, followed by junior Mike Cresci (Belvedere, Calif./Stuart Hall) making the second team. In addition, Kumar earned his second straight Freedom Conference Coach of the Year honor.
Leading by 12 strokes after day one of the two-day competition, Manhattanville took full advantage of the Sunday layout, which shaved nearly 200 yards off yesterday's course length. The Valiants' day-two score of 310 was 17 strokes better than second-place FDU-Florham, giving the team a two-day score of 630. The Devils (659) took second at the event, followed by DeSales University (674) in third.
Ayala led the Valiant charge all weekend, and as a result swept the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. Entering day two one shot off the lead following a Saturday 78, the freshman recorded the low round of Sunday by carding a three-over 74, posting his third-best round of the year and his best of the spring campaign. His two-day score of 152 was one shot better than Nick Sica (Staten Island, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) of FDU-Florham for medalist honors.
Ayala was joined on the All-Conference first team by two of his teammates, as Arnott and Randall tied for fourth place with two-day scores of 158. Randall, who was the co-leader after day one with a 77 on Saturday, came in with an 81 on Sunday to earn his second straight All-Conference first-team honor. Arnott shaved two strokes off yesterday's round by firing a six-over 78, helping him to remain in the same fourth-place slot he occupied heading into the day.
Cresci, last year's Freedom Conference Player of the Year, also received All-Conference accolades for the third straight year, earning a spot on the second team with a two-day score of 164. The junior came back from a tough first day to rise six spots up the leaderboard, carding a 79 on day two to move into a tie with DeSales' Michael Felker for ninth place at the end of the day.
Sophomore Daniel Skelton also made a late charge at All-Conference honors, posting the third biggest day-two improvement of any golfer. On Sunday, Skelton rebounded with his best round of the spring, a +8 79, to tie for 15th in the 39-golfer field with a two-day score of 170.
The Valiants will now have a little over a week of practice in New York before heading down to North Carolina for the NCAA Championship.
"It's rewarding to be making a return trip to the NCAA Tournament," Kumar added. "We need to get focused, have a good week in practice and get ready to compete down in Greensboro."
