Conference Championships Page /
2010-11 Wilkes Statistics
WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University heads to Hershey, Pennsylvania this weekend to compete in the 62nd Annual Middle Atlantic Men's Golf Championships Saturday and Sunday, April 30-May 1 at the Hershey Country Club.
The Colonels enter the championships with two of the top golfers in the conference this spring in
Bobby Hillibush (Mahanoy City/Mahanoy Area) and
Matt Kachurak (Mountain Top/Crestwood).
Hillibush has golfed in six events this year, including four during the spring season, and leads the Colonels with a 76.7 average, second in Freedom Conference. He boasts five top-five finishes in his six events, including taking first place at the Susquehanna Fall Invitational in which he shot a one-over 74 on the par 73 Susquehanna Valley Country Club.
He continued his success at that course, shooting a two-over 75 in the Susquehanna Spring Invitational, good enough for second place overall.
Hillibush was also tied for second at the Misercordia Invitational earlier in April with a three-over 75 at the Mountain Laurel Golf Course in White Haven. He posted two fourth place finishes in the Colonels two tri-matches this year, posting a four-over 76 on April 6 against the University of Scranton and FDU-Florham and another four-over 76 against Scranton and William Paterson University on April 26. Both of those matches were played at the Colonels home, Municipal Golf Course in Wilkes-Barre.
Kachurak, a freshman, has paced the Colonels in three of his five events entered this spring, including a round of 72, which is tied for the eighth lowest score in school history.
That low score came at the beginning of the spring schedule when the Colonels hosted Scranton and FDU in the April 6 tri-match. He came in first overall, finishing at even at Municipal. He also shot a one-over 73 this past week at Municipal, leading all Scranton and William Paterson golfers.
Kachurak has an average of 78.0, tied-for-fifth in the conference, and has four top five finishes.
Michael Turano (Browndale/Forest City Regional) will be in the three spot for the Colonels this weekend, as he competed in seven of the eight events for Wilkes this year.
He posted an average of 88.9, with his best outing being an eight-over par 80 in the Misericordia Invitational, where he placed tied-for-11th overall.
Kaleb Smith (Beavertown/Midd-West) will be the fourth golfer for Wilkes, as he's also competed in seven events this year and has an average of 93.2. Smith's best outing was a 13-over 85 back on April 14 against Misericordia University at Municipal.
The fifth golfer this weekend for the Colonels will be
Seth Bartlett (Montgomery/Montgomery). Playing in only three events this year, and just one this spring, Bartlett has an average of 85.7, including a low round of seven-over 79 at Municipal on April 26 against Scranton and William Paterson.
Individually, these Colonels will have tough competition in the Freedom. Misericordia's Bucky Aeppli leads the league with a 76.0 average in three events, while Tom McGrath from King's College and Mike Cresci from Manhattanville College each have an average of 77.5, tied for third overall.
Others with averages under 80 are Nicholas Sica from FDU (78.0); Lem Randall from Manhattanville (78.1); Juan Ayala from Manhattanville (78.4); and Stephen Arnott from Manhattanville (78.5).
Not coincidentally, Manhattanville has the best team average, shooting a 311.5 in its 17 total rounds this year. FDU follows at two with a 326.2 average, while King's has a 334.4, Delaware Valley College a 344.0 and Misericordia is fifth with an average of 344.4.
Wilkes team average of 346.8 comes in sixth in the Freedom, while DeSales (352.2) and Eastern (369.2) round out the rest of the conference.
Saturday's round is set to get underway at 8:00 a.m. as both Freedom and Commonwealth teams tee off at the same time. The second round on Sunday is scheduled for the same time.
