Golf

AGGIES CAPTURE FREEDOM CONFERENCE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
FOR FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Everingham Places Second, Linde Named Coach of the Year

HERSHEY (PA) - The Delaware Valley College golf team captured its first-ever Freedom Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon as the Aggies ran away from the seven-team field at the Hershey Country Club (Par 71).

Delaware Valley registered a two-day team score of 652 to defeat Lycoming College and The University of Scranton by 12 strokes as the two teams tied for the runner-up position with a 664. FDU-Florham, which led the Aggies by one stroke after day one, finished fourth with a 675 followed by King's College (680) and DeSales University (710). Wilkes University missed its tee time on Sunday and was disqualified from the championship.

Individually, junior Mike Everingham (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) was the conference runner-up and earned first team accolades. Senior Shawn Cooper (Elizabethtown, PA/Middletown) and junior Dustin Pierce (Belleville, PA/Lewistown) each placed in the top 10 for second team, all-conference honors. Doug Linde was named the Freedom Conference Coach of the Year.

"I'm just thrilled for the guys and for DelVal in general," Linde said. "The team played solid all year and continued to do that this weekend. We had a lot of depth this year and it showed with all five players placing high."

Everingham, who was tied for 12th after Saturday's action, shot an eight-over par 79 to finish with a two-day total of 161. He was two strokes behind individual champion J.T. Yarem of Scranton.

Cooper placed in the top 10 at the conference championship for the second time in his career. He shot an 82 on Sunday for a two-day total of 163 and sixth-place honors. Pierce had a round of 81 on Saturday and followed with an 86 to finish in 10th place.

Senior Lou Shults (Watchung, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) and sophomore Eric Whitmore (Biddeford, ME/Biddeford) each finished tied for 12th with two-day scores of 169. Shults, who was tied for third after the first day, recorded a round of 89 on Sunday. Whitmore improved by seven strokes in round two as he shot an 81.

This marked the first year that the old Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship split into the Freedom and Commonwealth Championships that exists for most sports. Each conference has seven teams, which will give them automatic berths to the NCAA Division III Championships beginning with the 2006 season.

The 2004-05 campaign saw three Delaware Valley College teams crowned as conference champions for the first time in school history. In addition to the golf team winning the Freedom, the Aggie football team won its first MAC championship in the fall and the wrestling team captured its fourth consecutive MAC crown in the winter.

FREEDOM CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP (HERSHEY COUNTRY CLUB)
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Delaware Valley..... 652
2. Lycoming..... 664
2. Scranton..... 664
4. FDU-Florham..... 675
5. King's..... 680
6. DeSales.....710
7. Wilkes..... DQ