Written By Audrey Kough, Red & Black Campus Sports Writer
When someone asks you to name a sport — where does your mind immediately go? Most people would say: football, basketball, or baseball. Few people would say golf. But here at Washington and Jefferson College, the men’s golf team has had incredible performances. The team continues to perform well tournament after tournament, but often their efforts and achievements go unrecognized. The team is made up of seniors Colin Robinson and Dawson Thorton, junior Luke Lestini, sophomores Matthew Lacek and Cade Patterson, and freshmen Chase Crissman, Luke Eckmann, Andrew Platt, and Matt Tokarczyk. With a very strong incoming class of freshmen, the golf team is prepared to dominate this season. However, after talking to freshman Chase Crissman, he described their season so far as,
“Successful compared to previous years but has just fallen short of becoming something amazing.”
What Crissman means by this is that the men’s golf team has won one tournament and has been very close to winning two others. They are performing well in all their matches but just cannot seem to secure the top spot. The starting lineup consists of Crissman, Platt, Patterson, Lestini, and Robinson. Everyone on the starting lineup has been shooting very solid scores, and while at tournaments they have been very competitive with their fellow golfers from other schools. During their first tournament, they came in second place, with only two shots more than the team in first. It was an extremely competitive and close match. Although they did not come in first place for this specific tournament, it was not a complete loss for the team.
After the tournament, Andrew Platt was recognized as PAC rookie of the week and Colin Robinson was recognized as PAC Player of the Week. During the second tournament, the men’s golf team came in first place and Luke Lestini was recognized as PAC Rookie of the Week. In the third tournament, they placed second again. In the previous tournament the team played at, they placed fourth and Crissman was recognized as PAC Rookie of the Week.
One thing that people do not know about the golf team is that they miss more classes than usual because they do not have any close tournaments to compete in and this season there are no home matches. The men’s golf team works hard to keep on top of their schoolwork and continue achieving academic success despite missing classes.
With hopes for continued success, the golf team continues to work hard and keeps striving for greatness. While the team is disappointed about how they have come so close to first place and missed it at times, they are still having a phenomenal season. They continue to grow every day, both on and off the course. The men’s golf team’s individual accomplishments and work ethic deserve more spotlight and attention. Do not be surprised if you continue to hear about the exceptional performances from the men on the golf team!