Ephs 4th at NESCAC Qualifier; will play for NESCAC title in the spring
MIDDLEBURY, VT -- All season long we have been
battling Middlebury, Trinity and Hamilton and we were sure that
they would make it to the spring championship," said Eph head coach
Rick Pohle. "What we did know was how many teams would be settling
their sights on the fourth and final spot."
The Ephs were fourth after day one of the NESCAC Qualifier and held
a six shot lead over Wesleyan going into Sunday's final round of 18
holes. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy and it took some great
personal efforts each day to hold off an impressive Bowdoin team
that posted a solid 616 team total for the event. Fotunately for
Pohle and his Ephs the two-day total by the Polar Beras from
Bowdoin was five shots behind the Ephs who finished fourth and
claimed the last spot in the NESCAC Championship Tournament, which
will be played at Middelbury in the spring. and 5th place
overall.
After day one it was pretty clear that Middlebury and Trinity were
guaranteed a spot with scores of 292 and 294 respectively. Hamilton
shot a 300 and Williams posted a 304. Wesleyan turned in a solid
effort with a 310 and Bowdoin started with a 313, so the contenders
were poised for a run. Bowdoin answered the call by shooting a fine
303 on the second day for their 616 total, while Wesleyan faltered
to a 323 (633 total).
Most of the Williams players experienced moments of frustration
which can happen at the Ralph Myhre GC. Jack Killea '11 was the
team's low scorer with rounds of 71-79 = 150 (tied for fifth) and
was followed by two of the Ephs' most consistent players over the
weekend, Tyler Zara '09 (78-75 = 153) and Jake Wagner '11 (76-78 =
154). Drew Murray '11 made a huge contribution with his 75 on day 2
(83-75 = 158) and senior Matt Felser contributed with 79 on day 1
(79-85 = 164).
"Once we knew what we needed with Bowdoin's score being posted, we
finished quite strong and kept the team's hope for a repeat trip to
the NCAA next spring alive."
Middlebury by virtue of their first place finish (593) over Trinity
(594) will host the NESCAC Championship on April 25-26, 2009.
Hamilton placed third (606) followed by Williams with a 611. So,
the same four teams from last season's NESCAC Championship
Tournament will be vying for the chance to head to Port St. Lucie,
Florida in early May for the NCAA Championship.
