ChampionsGate, Fla. / ChampionsGate Golf Club-The Robert Morris University men's golf team's hopes of being the wire-to-wire winners of the 2010 Northeast Conference were dashed in the final round, but the Colonials third-place finish was still the team's best in six years. Jerry Stone, who was named the NEC Women's Golf Coach of the Year last weekend, became the first person in conference history to earn the Coach of the Year award for both genders when his peers named him the Men's Golf Coach of the Year Sunday afternoon. The award is his third to go along with the 2003 Men's Coach of the Year honor.
Junior C.G. Mercatoris (Brookville, Pa. / Brookville) tied for second place at the event, firing a one-over par round and finishing the 72-hole tournament at ChampionsGate Golf Club in Florida with a three-over par total of 219.
The Colonials held a two-round lead heading in to the final day of competition before a team total 310 round score came in eight strokes behind winner Saint Francis (Pa.) and five strokes back of Sacred Heart's total. RMU finished the event with a 914 team score, three strokes back of the Pioneers and four strokes behind the Red Flash. Mount St. Mary's was fourth (921) followed by Central Connecticut State (fifth, 922), Fairleigh Dickinson (sixth, 925), Monmouth (seventh, 929), Long Island (eighth, 948), St. Francis (N.Y.) (ninth, 1,043) and Wagner (10th, 1,095).
Mercatoris held the individual lead for much of final round, playing one-under par through the first 15 holes before taking a double-bogey six on the 429-yard 16th. He finished with a pair of pars and a tie for second place carding 7274-73=219 (+3), the same total as Joey Amelia (Saint Francis (Pa.)). Fairleigh Dickinson's Robert Cerabone won the NEC Individual Championship with a 218 score.
The junior's second place showing is the team's best since Damien Mackmen tied for second at 2005 championship held at Quicksilver Golf Course. He finished his junior year by earning a top-10 placement in seven of eight tournaments he finished.
Senior Joe Kabana (East Stroudsburg, Pa. / Notre Dame) tied for 12th position after carding a round of five-over par at the par-72, 6,937-yard layout. Freshman Max Cahn (Nyack, N.Y. / Nyack) shot an 81 in the final round to finish in a tie for 19th position with a 232 total.
Junior Shawn Courson (Parker, Pa. / Allegheny-Clarion Valley) rounded out his championship with a 79, recovering from yesterday's 84 to finish 32nd overall (240). Sophomore Robbie Holdcroft (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa. / State College) tied for 35th place, shooting a final round 83 and carding a 243 for the tournament.
