Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University men's golf team received one first-place vote and was selected to finish fifth according to the 2014 Northeast Conference Men's Golf Preseason Coaches Poll. The Colonials finished fourth at the 2013 NEC Championship but are coming off a successful fall campaign that saw them collect three top-three finishes while setting a team record.
 
Robert Morris opened the season by winning the 25^th Annual Leo Keenan Invitational in record-setting fashion. RMU carded a 36-hole total of 578, the second-lowest team score in program history on the strength of a first round 287.
 
The Colonials also took second in their home event, the RMU Colonial Classic, and were third at the 16-team Dayton Flyer Invitational.
 
Junior Santiago Mejia (Bogota, Colombia / Blessed Hope) and sophomore Garrett Browning (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) led the team with stroke averages of 73.0 and 73.4. They are on track for the second and third-best stroke averages in team history.
 
Browning had two medalist finishes in the fall, winning the Keenan Invitational at three-over before carding a two-over to claim victory at the RMU Colonial Classic. Mejia, meanwhile, had three top-five finishes highlighted by a second place showing at the Keenan Invitational.
 
A deep roster saw freshman Dean Hitt (Jackson, Mich. / Lumen Christi) make an immediate impact with a 75.9 stroke average and a seventh-place showing at the season-opening Keenan Invite. Juniors Ryan Prokay (Grove City, Pa. / Grove City) and Matt Gurska (Hermitage, Pa. / Kennedy Catholic), sophomore Dan Maier (Irwin, Pa. / Penn Trafford) and freshman Mac Cavanaugh (West Newbury, Mass. / Pentucket Regional) all played in the fall as well and will be expected to contribute when the spring season commences.
 
Bryant earned four first-place votes and topped the NEC poll. Central Connecticut State was second followed by Saint Francis Universiy, Fairleigh Dickinson, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart in fifth, LIU Brooklyn seventh, Wagner and St. Francis Brooklyn rounding out the poll.