May 5, 2008

NCAA Regional Golf Selections Press Release

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (May 5, 2008) - The Sacred Heart men's golf team will be one of 27 teams competiting at the NCAA Central Regional hosted by Ohio State, May 15th through 17th as the Pioneers make their first-ever NCAA tournament apperance. The Pioneers are seeded 27th in the region and will take part in the 54-hole tournament being held at the Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.

Sacred Heart earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid by virtue of winning the Northeast Conference Championship over the weekend at the Hershey Links in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Pioneers won the three-day event by firing a record-setting 54-hole total of 870 (+6). SHU bested the 11 team field winning the three-day tournament by 23 strokes over second place finisher Long Island (+29). Sacred Heart also set new conference records for 18-hole total after firing a 280 during Saturday's round two while the team's score of 577 through the first two days of competition broke the league's 36-hole mark.

The Pioneers are one of 27 teams (and six individual players not on a participating team) that were selected to compete at one of three three regional sites - Chattanooga, Tenn. (Council Fire Golf Club), Columbus, Ohio (Scarlet Golf Course) or Bremerton, Wash. (Gold Mountain Golf Club).

The Central Regional will feature 10 conference champions led by top-seeded Alabama, the SEC champion. The region also features Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champion), Georgia Tech, Florida, Tennessee, Lamar (Southland Conference Champion), Wake Forest, Indiana, Texas A&M, Louisville, Wichita State (Missouri Valley Confernce Champion), Kent State, Penn State, Arkansas, Michigan, TCU, Texas-Arlington, Illinois, host Ohio State, Baylor, Colorado, Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference Champion), Marquette (Big East Champion), Eastern Michigan (Mid-America Champion), Cleveland State (Horizon League Champion), Loyola (MAAC Champion) and the Pioneers (Northeast Conference Champion).

Each regional tournament will be 54 holes with the top 10 teams, and the top two individuals not already on an advancing team, advancing to the championship finals May 28-31 at the Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The Championship tournament will be a 72-hole event.

The Pioneers are led by All-NEC golfers senior Tommy Campbell (Wall, NJ), junior Patrick Fillian (Tinton Falls, NJ) and sophomore Adam Petrasovic (Tecumseh, Ontario). All three finished in the top-10 at this past weekend's NEC Championship to lead the Pioneers to their record breaking win. Head Coach Ed Connolly was named the NEC Coach of the Year.