LOUDONVILLE, NY – Jared Nelson and
Sara Riso represented the Siena men's and women's golf teams in the MAAC Golfer of the Month Awards for September, as announced by the league Wednesday afternoon. With each coming off strong individual performances in fall tournament play, the pair became the first Saints golf duo to sweep the award in program history.
A native of Hamburg, NY, Riso takes home her first career MAAC Golfer of the Month award and her second-ever honor from the league, winning MAAC Golfer of the Week on April 11, 2018. The senior is the first Siena women's golfer to win monthly league honors since Kylie Strijek received recognition in March 2014.
"I'm incredibly happy for Sarah on this recognition," Women's Golf Head Coach
Dave Wronowski said. "She has put a lot of hard work and dedication into her game over the last three years, and I'm not surprised that she has played as well as she has. We were very happy to see her win individual honors at the Hartford Hawks Invitational last week, as part of what has been a fantastic start to her senior season."
A freshman competing in his first slate of collegiate golf during the Fall of 2018, Nelson secures his first career MAAC honor, becoming the first Saints male golfer to garner the award since Scott Kim in Sept. 2016.
"Jared's play this fall has been what I thought it would be," Men's Golf Head Coach
Steven Jensen stated. "He came into Siena College with a lot of tournament experience and has a very solid game in all aspects! I see him playing continually well throughout the rest of our schedule."
Riso completed a tremendous opening month of the season in which she won an individual championship and also set a program record low-round score. The senior shot a phenomenal 73.3 scoring average spanning eight rounds and posted three top-four finishes. In her second of four events in the month, Riso recorded an individual program record low-round score of 66 during the opening round of the Dartmouth Invitational on Sept. 15 to propel Siena to a program record team low-round score of 298. Her strong start led her to a tied for third finish in the event. She capped her month by capturing her second career individual title and the 30th in program history by winning the Hartford Hawks Invitational on Sept. 30, shooting rounds of 70 and 71 to win the event by a three-stroke margin over her nearest challenger.
Nelson burst onto the scene with a pair of top-10 finishes over the first month of the season, firing a 71.2 stroke average over six rounds of play and displaying a tied for first-place finish in his collegiate debut. He teed off his Siena career by finishing tied for first at the season-opening Cornell Invitational on Sept. 15 & 16. After firing back-to-back rounds of 67 in his collegiate debut to claim the individual lead following a tie for the lowest two-round score in program history on the first day, Nelson completed the 54-hole event by carding a 73 on the final day of competition. He then finished seventh overall at Dartmouth's Quechee Club Collegiate Invitational the following weekend, following rounds of 75 and 70, while tying for third in the event with eight total birdies.
With both squads deep into competition for the fall season, both Nelson and Riso will see tournament play action in the month of October. The men's team returns to action Oct. 7-8 at the UCONN Invitational in Hampden, Massachusetts, while the women's squad caps off its fall campaign at the Brown Bear Invitational in Seekonk, Mass. Oct. 14-15.
