Elms Crowned 2010 NECC Golf Champions
Leicester, Mass.- The Elms College Blazers take home the 2010 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Golf Championship Title, finishing just two strokes ahead of runner up Babson College today at the Leicester Country Club hosted by Becker College.
Elms entered the day with a nine stroke lead over Springfield College. Babson College came on strong on day two, shooting a round best 305 as a team. Babson junior Joseph Young (Westwood, Mass.) was named the 2010 NECC Player of the Year after shooting a tournament best 145 after 36 holes. Young shot a 71 on day two; which was the lowest score of the two-day tournament.
Springfield College finished in third place, one shot behind
Babson with a 322. The Pride were lead by senior
Craig DiFranco (East Longmeadow,
Mass.) who shot a 75 on day two and 149 overall, four shots behind
young.
Elms were led by sophomore Phil Rurak (Wilbraham, Mass.), after being the leader on day one, fell into third place with a round of 78 for a 150 total score. Blazer freshmen teammates Kyle Simard (Thorndike, Mass.) and Henry Fall (Harpswell, Maine) each shot a 77 to help the Blazers hold onto the Championship. Sophomore Anthony Roberts (Ludlow, Mass.) tied for 14th overall with a total score of 166 while senior Andrew Sullivan (West Springfield, Mass.) came in two strokes behind him with a two-round score of 168 and a share of 17th place.
The Blazers, who entered Sunday's second round action with a nine-stroke advantage, totaled a team score of 313 finishing with a two-round combined score of 619, two strokes ahead of Babson College (621). Babson College and Springfield College (622) rallied to shoot team scores of 305 and 307 on Sunday and cut into Elms' lead. Becker College finished fourth (666), Daniel Webster College placed fifth (684), Mitchell College came in sixth (749) and Newbury College scored an 848 to round out the seven team field championship.
Elms, Babson and Springfield placed each of their four scoring golfers in the top 15 overall individually.
Kyle Simard, Henry Fall and Springfield’s freshman Kyle DiFranco (East Longmeadow, Mass.) had a play-off to determine the NECC Rookie of the Year. After four holes, Kyle DiFranco finally prevailed, earning 2010 Rookie of the Year honors.
Elms College head coach Craig Cowles was selected by his peers as the NECC Coach of the Year. Coach Evan McDermott and his Daniel Webster Eagles earned the NECC Sportsmanship Award.
Earning All-NECC first team was Joseph Young, Craig DiFranco, Kyle DiFranco, Phil Rurak, and Kyle Simard. Selected to the Second Team All New England Collegiate Conference was Henry Fall, junior Emily Bouchard (Saco, Maine) from Daniel Webster, senior Bryan Eger (Hopkinton, Mass.), 2009 NECC Player of the Year, and senior Matt Foley (East Longmeadow, Mass.) from Babson; along with junior Thomas Sangeloty (Unionville, Conn.) from Springfield College.
Becker senior John Bourque (Atkinson, NH.) led the Hawks with a two round total of 164 finishing 12th overall. Mitchell’s top performer was freshman Matthew Markavage (Moraga, Calif.) shooting a 178 for 23rd place, while Newbury’s top duffer was junior Rob Foley (Coventry, Conn.) placing 30th with a team high 204.
2010 NECC Golf All-Conference First Team:
Joseph Young*, Babson College (JR)
Craig DiFranco**, Springfield College (SR)
Kyle DiFranco, Springfield College (FR)
Phil Rurak, Elms College (SO)
Kyle Simard, Elms College (FR)
2010 NECC Golf All-Conference Second Team:
Henry Fall, Elms College (FR)
Emily Bouchard, Daniel Webster (JR)
Bryan Eger*, Babson College (JR
Matt Foley*, Babson College (JR)
Thomas Sangeloty, Springfield College (JR)
*Two-Year All-Conference Members
**Three-Year All-Conference Members
Final Overall Individual Results
2010 NECC Golf Championship Packet
2010 NECC Golf Championship Program
Information on Leicester Country Club: http://www.leicestercc.com/default.asp
Directions: http://www.leicestercc.com/directions.asp
Host NECC Institution: http://www.beckerhawks.com/sports/mgolf/index
