April 28, 2011

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FL - The La Salle golf team will begin play at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday at the Mission Inn Resort outside of Orlando. The 54-hole event commences at 8 AM all three days with live statistics available here.

The Explorers have had a promising 2010-11, despite consistently starting three freshmen. The highlight was shooting a team score of 300 and winning the Swarthmore Invitational in March, the best team score in five years.

La Salle also carded a team score of 308 at the Big 5 Invitational and a 314 at Navy in the fall.

Individually, freshman Michael Johnson has the top scoring average at 76.3. The Ambler, PA native has won four Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors and figures to be in contention for conference Rookie of the Year honors. Johnson owns five of the six lowest scores by an Explorer, including a 70 at the Big 5 Invitational. He has three top 10 finishes, including medalist honors at the Swarthmore Invitational.

Junior Ed Carnes, fresh off a successful swimming season, is the Explorers' second scorer with a 80.2 average. Carnes shot a pair of 76s last spring at the A-10 Championship and had an outstanding summer, winning his club championship and regularly shooting in the high 60s. He is rounding into form after missing the fall due to his committments with the swim team and owns a pair of 77s in limited action this spring.

Junior Tyler Batory has averaged an 82.1 this season with a pair of low scores being 78 at Christopher Newport and Rehoboth Beach.

Freshman Tommy Horgan had a 72 at the Swarthmore Invitational and comes into the event with a 83.1 average. Freshman Chris Costantino (85.4) will also make his first A-10 Championship appearance.

Five-time defending champion Charlotte is in search of its sixth A-10 championship as the 11-team field hits the links beginning at 8:00 am Friday morning. Joining Charlotte and La Salle in this year's field are Dayton, Fordham, George Washington, Rhode Island, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, Temple and Xavier.

The 49ers captured the team title a year ago at the same venue winning by 18 strokes over second place Richmond. Xavier placed third, while Dayton and George Washington finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Charlotte's Corey Nagy captured the individual title shooting a 4-under 209, winning by two strokes over teammate Olafur Loftsson, who fired a 2-under 211. Dayton's Daniel Walker placed third finishing with a score of 2-over par 215.

The 49ers are looking to become the first school in league history to win the A-10 championship six years in a row. Former A-10 member Penn State won the championship five straight years from 1986 to 1991. Rhode Island, Temple and Penn State have won the most league championships with six each. Since 1998, only three schools have won the team title including Charlotte, Xavier and Rhode Island.