Now serving in his ninth season as Siena Men's head golf coach, Steve Jensen has noticed the program's upward trajectory with each passing class to the point where Siena has gained enough traction now to be a destination place to play golf.
"From each of the classes, it has gotten even better," coach Jensen said.
"More and more players want to come to Siena where in the past that may not have been the case. This run has been very special for our guys."
The Saints only solidified that reputation by adding to their collection of MAAC Men's Golf Championships, winning for a second straight season, and making its fifth trip to the NCAA Regionals over these past three days in Stanford, CA.
While Siena finished in 14
th place in the NCAA Regional with team totals of 287-299-289 for a three-day grand total of 34-over par 875 the program established program records in both low team round and their individual low score in a NCAA Tournament event.
On Monday, the Saints fired a 7-over par 287 to set a new program record for a low round and freshman
Michael McConie broke new ground by shooting even par 70.
On Wednesday, McConie beat his own score by re-establishing the record once again by firing a 2-under par 68 in round three.
The MAAC Rookie of the Year who hails from Huntington, NY finished with five birdies in the third round and closed especially strong with three birdies on the final five holes.
McConie shot 6-over par 216 (70-78-68) to led the Saints and finish tied for 52
nd overall among individuals.
"This was a carryover from his performance in the MAAC Championship," coach Jensen said.
"He was ready to go."
Siena had pretty steady performances from three others on the team including fifth-year
Matthew Ferrari, who shot 72-73-74 for a nine-over par 219, fifth-year
Nolan Crowley, who carded a 72-75-72 for a three-day total of nine-over par 219 and sophomore
Austin Giroux (73-73-75 for a 11-over par 221).
Nick Lyons also got the start on Wednesday and improved by 10 strokes from his Monday performance by shooting a five-over par 75.
Siena finished better than Fresno State and Sacramento State by a stroke in Wednesday's Round 3.
After the first round, Siena was ahead of Sacramento State in the standings by nine strokes and was within two strokes of three other schools including Liberty, Missouri and Fresno State.
"We got off to a steady start," coach Jensen said.
"We managed the game well and our short game was solid. To be in position of only one or two shots behind some of the top teams after the first round was telling."
The top five teams to advance to the NCAA Men's Golf Championships were Illinois (263-270-271 for a 36-under par 804), Florida State (-28), Texas A&M (-19), SMU (-10) and Stanford (-10).
Ben Warian of Minnesota also advanced as an individual not from the top five teams.
