Men's Golf Tunes Up For Northeast Conference Championships At Navy Spring Invitational This Weekend

COMPETITION: Mount St. Mary's at Navy Spring Invitational
WHEN: Sat-Sun, Apr. 21-22, 2012
WHERE: Naval Academy Golf Course, Annapolis, Md.

COMPETING TEAMS: Navy, Bucknell, Colgate, Columbia, George Washington, Georgetown, Iona, Lafayette, La Salle, Lehigh, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary's, Penn, St. Francis (N.Y.), Saint Joseph's, Siena, Villanova
MOUNT COMPETITORS: Tonny Aizpun, Kevin Ellison, Andrew Lawton, Danny Michalek, Devin O'Grady, Ryan Triller
2011 Team Champion: TCU (302-284=586)
2011 Individual Champion: Ben Hayes, Navy (75-69=144)

opening tee... The Mount men's golf team will travel to the Navy Spring Invitational for the second-straight year on Saturday and Sunday. The tune up for the Northeast Conference Championships will be a 19-team field, including LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis (N.Y.) from the NEC.

last time on that green… Tonny Aizpun finished 48th to lead the Mount St. Mary's men's golf team to a 15th-place standing at the Navy Spring Invitational on Apr. 17, 2011. Aizpun posted a 77 in the first round for his second-best collegiate round and then registered an 82 in the final round to finish with a 159 in 48th place, 15 strokes behind the medalist. Kevin Ellison (55th place, 160), Ray Hyre (68th place, 162), Andrew Lawton (96th place, 171) and Dan Michalek (103rd place, 175) rounded out the Mount's competitors. The Mountaineers finished 15th after posting a 335 in the first round and a 312 in the second round for a total of 647.

last time out… Ryan Triller finished second to lead the Mount St. Mary's men's golf team to a third-place finish at the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational on Tuesday. Triller posted a pair of even-round scores of 72 to post a 144 on the first day and then recorded a 76 in the final round to card a 220. The freshman ended the competition in second place and two strokes behind the medalist. Danny Michalek finished third and one stroke behind Triller after recording a 74, 73 and 74 in the three rounds for a total of 221. Tonny Aizpun (9th place, 229), Devin O'Grady (13th place, 233) and Kevin Ellison (18th place, 238) rounded out the Mount's five competitors. Mount St. Mary's went into the final day of its home event with a two stroke lead after carding a 296 and a 295 on Monday. The Mount then posted a 311 on Tuesday while Robert Morris and Fairfield both notched rounds under 300 to finish ahead of the Mount. Andrew Lawton finished ninth as an individual after carding a three-round score of 229. Ryan Lee (18th place, 238) also competed in the event as an individual.

next on tap... The Mount will head to the Northeast Conference Championships on May 4-6 in Florida.

triller honored… Ryan Triller has been named the Northeast Conference Men's Co-Golfer of the Week for the week of Apr. 11-17. Triller finished second at the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational on Tuesday. The freshman posted a pair of 72's on the first day of the competition and then carded a 76 in the final round to record a three-round total of 220. Triller finished two strokes behind the medalist in second place. The Mount finished the event third as a team.

nice start… The Mount finished second at the Rehoboth Beach Invitational on Sept. 26, marking the squad's best finish since placing second at the ECAC Championships on Oct. 1-2, 2010. The team has posted a team score of 300 or better eight of the 10 rounds this season. Sophomore Kevin Ellison became the first Mount golfer since Andrew Hill in 2003 to win and event after finishing as the medalist at the ECAC Championships and helping the team to its first team title since 2007. The squad concluded the fall with a second-place standing at the Robert Morris Pittsburgh Airport Colonial Classic on Oct. 11.

all-tournament returner… Sophomore Devin O'Grady finished ninth at the NEC Championships in 2011 to earn All-Tournament honors. It marks the 19th time in program history the Mount had a player place in the Top-10 while O'Grady becomes the 14th different player to accomplish the feat and the first since Brad Gerick in 2009, who also finished ninth in that event. The three-round score of 222 is the third-best three-round mark in the championships in program history. By finishing in the Top-10, O'Grady was named to the NEC All-Tournament team. As a team, the Mount notched its best finish since 1998 with a third-place standing.

new to the mountain... Freshman Ryan Triller joins the team for the 2011-12 season. The freshman made his collegiate debut at the Turning Stone Intercollegiate.

about the coach… Farrell, who enters his third season as the men's golf head coach and first as the women's golf head coach, guided the men's golf program to a third-place finish at the Northeast Conference Men's Golf Championships last season. It was the squad's best finish since the 1998 season. Under Farrell's tutelage, the men's golf team also finished second at the ECAC Championships (Oct. 1-2, 2010) and fourth in the Penn Quaker Invitational (Apr. 3-4, 2011) last season. In Farrell's first season, the men finished fourth at the NEC Championships. Farrell was a standout golfer on the Mountaineers men's golf team from 2004-08. He finished in the Top-10 at the NEC Championships in both his junior and senior seasons to earn spots on the All-NEC team.  Farrell is one of five players in team history to earn finish in the Top-10 at the NEC Championships twice in his career and his three-round score of 220 at the 2008 NEC Championships is still the record for three rounds at the NEC Championships.