Having completed its fifth consecutive undefeated regular-season schedule, Pennsylvania College of Technology's golf team now turns its attention on what it hopes will be a fifth straight conference championship and individual medalist.
The Wildcats, who finished 12-0 in four Penn State University Athletic Conference matches to extend their win streak to 142-0 and capture the conference's Western Division title, head to University Park and the Penn State Blue Course on Monday and Tuesday seeking another crown.
"They played well (during the regular season). I can't say enough about Shaun McQuay. He won all but one match," coach Chet Schuman said. McQuay is a senior from Watsontown.
The surprise for Schuman during the regular season and it was a pleasant one was the play of freshmen Doug Wagner (Huntington Mills), Dean Bell (Schwenksville) and Eric Schall ( Jersey Shore ).
"Bringing back Ryan Nornhold, who played a little bit; Shaun and Matt Winder, who are solid players, and how they've all stepped up and performed very well. They're all very, very competitive golfers. That was my surprise," Schuman said. Winder is a sophomore from Montgomery and Nornhold a junior from Enola.
Winder and T.C. Reynolds of Muncy, who didn't come out for the team this year, shared medalist honors at last year's championship. McQuay won in 2005 and Penn College also had individual champs in 2004 (Brandon Smith) and 2003 (Matt Haile).
All six Wildcats will compete for individual honors at the championships, with the low four scores used for team competition.
"I think any one of our players could be the medalist. They all shoot well. The east (also) has a couple of good players who really play good golf. It's going to come down to weather, and who can gut it out," Schuman said, adding, "I think we could place six in the top 10."
In the PSUAC championships, Penn College will face seven other teams Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Penn State New Kensington, Penn State DuBois, Penn State Mt. Alto, Penn State Lehigh Valley , Penn State Abington and Penn State Greater Allegheny. Golfers also will face the challenge of competing for the first time on the newly renovated 7,172-yard Blue Course.
"The Blue Course should be in real good shape," Schuman said. Wildcat golfers will practice there Sunday, the coach said, to get as familiar with the course as possible before competition begins Monday.
"The kids are out for their own personal best. It's not like you can turn around and rely on somebody else to bail you out. You've got to play the course and everybody else. If we play the course better than everybody else and we beat our foursomes, we should do all right," Schuman added.
( Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site.)