Poll/Preview: Husson Forecasted to Claim NAC Men's Golf Championship
WATERVILLE, Maine – The 2024 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Men’s Golf Pre-Championship Coaches Poll results have been announced and three-time defending NAC champion Husson University has been projected to win for the fourth-consecutive season, accumulating 80 points and eight of nine first-place votes.
SUNY Delhi, which won back-to-back NAC Championships in 2019 and 2021 (spring) and placed as the runner-up in the 2021 (fall) and 2023 conference tournaments, earned the remaining first-place vote and 73 total points. Maine Maritime Academy and UMaine-Farmington tied for third with 52 points apiece and SUNY Cobleskill rounded out the top five vote-getters with 50 points.
Thomas College (41 points), UMaine-Presque Isle (24), and Lesley University (20) placed sixth through eighth, respectively, in the 2024 pre-championship poll. VTSU Johnson will field three individual players in the tournament but cannot place as a team.
The 2024 NAC Championship will be played on Sunday, October 14th and Monday, October 15th at the Chicopee Country Club in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The winner of the 2024 NAC Championship will earn an automatic qualifier into the 2025 NCAA DIII Men's Golf Championship, which will be played at the Midvale Country Club in Penfield, New York May 20-23.
TEAM CAPSULES (including each team’s list of participants and their per-round averages):
#1 Husson University
Head Coach: Kent Clark (2nd Year)
(1) Jackson King, 72.0 (2) Chris Kauppila, 74.0 (3) Will Kavanaugh, 73.8 (4) Max Woodman, 76.2 (5) Jace Cook, 76.7
The Eagles return all but one player from their 2023 championship team quintet, as graduate students Chris Kauppila (Newburgh, Maine), Will Kavanaugh (Topsham, Maine), Jack King (Barton, Vt.), and Max Woodman (Lincoln, Maine) figure to help make up for the loss of 2023 Co-Medalist Cade Charron, who notched a 149 (72-77) two-day card at the Partridge Run Country Club last fall.
Husson has won five tournaments this fall, and the Eagles’ five NAC tourney participants have combined to post 13 top-five finishes, including seven Medalist honors, in 2024. Kavanaugh and sophomore Jace Cook (Charlotte, Maine) have both won two events this season.
#2 SUNY Delhi
Head Coach: David Arehart (27th Year)
(1) Noah Tyler, 77.8 (2) Ben Swartz, 78.4 (3) Joey Manginelli, 75.5 (4) Grady Glennon, 76.4 (5) Vlad Olenski, 78.9
Featuring four sophomores and one freshman, SUNY Delhi is back in the mix this fall and returns two players from a 2023 squad that finished as the NAC Runner-up: Co-Medalist Noah Tyler (Fort Edward, N.Y.) and Ben Swartz (Hudson Falls, N.Y.). Led by veteran Head Coach David Arehart, the Broncos look to bounce back from a frustrating 2023 NAC Championship finish, where they held a two-stroke lead after day one but ultimately fell to Husson by 10 strokes while enduring tough conditions on day two.
SUNY Delhi has claimed a pair of tournament titles this fall while the team’s NAC Championship quintet has posted seven top-five finishes combined. Sophomore Joey Manginelli (Kingston, N.Y.) earned the team’s lone Medalist honor after shooting a 2024 team-best 69 in the SUNY Delhi Invitational on August 31st.
#3T Maine Maritime Academy
Co-Head Coaches: Craig Dagan & Tony DeMuro
(1) Nicholas Villella, 78.7 (2) Mac McCarthy, 81.0 (3) Brody Hathorne, 82.2 (4) Ayden Marini, 82.6 (5) Evan Duprey, 87.3
Maine Maritime, which placed seventh (687) in the 2023 NAC Championship, has been picked to finish in a tie for third by the conference’s head coaches with three first-year players in their group of five. Freshman Nicholas Villella (Peachtree City, Ga.), who has earned a pair of NAC Rookie of the Week honors this fall, leads the charge and has placed in the top eight in three different tournaments. Sophomore Mac McCarthy (Salem, N.H.) placed third in the Husson Invitational on September 8th, when he tied a program record with a 71 card.
McCarthy and senior Brody Hathorne (Turner, Maine) played in the 2023 NAC Championship, placing 27th and 31st, respectively.
#3T UMaine-Farmington
Head Coach: Bob Timmins (22nd Year)
(1) Jack Burton, 78.9 (2) Neil LaRochelle III, 79.7 (3) Chris Frey, 88.2 (4) Cooper Boinske, 86.6 (5) Derick Capp, NA
After placing sixth with a 682 card in last year’s title bout, UMaine-Farmington is forecasted to tie for third this fall. The Beavers feature one of the most veteran squads in the 2024 NAC Championship with four seniors, including a trio of players who played in the 2023 tournament in Jack Burton (Dayton, Maine), Neil LaRochelle III (Lisbon Falls, Maine), and Chris Frey (Auburn, Maine). LaRochelle finished 14th and Burton, who was named as the Sep. 16 NAC Player of the Week, was 16th in last year’s NAC Championship.
Farmington competed in a NAC-high 12 tournaments in 2024 and Burton, LaRochelle, Frey, and freshman Cooper Boinske (Westfield, Maine) combined to notch 18 top-10 finishes this fall.
#5 SUNY Cobleskill
Head Coach: Brock Ricketts (2nd Year)
(1) Josh House, 75.5 (2) Jake Morris, 90.0 (3) Leo Rosenstadt, 91.0 (4) Benjamin Casola, 94.0 (5) Isaac Walker, 85.7
The Fighting Tigers return three players from the 2023 NAC Championship, where they placed fifth with a 676 team card. Junior Josh House (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) earned Second Team All-Conference accolades with a 10th-place finish while senior Leo Rosenstadt (Westchester, N.Y.) and junior Isaac Walker (Roxbury, N.Y.) finished 23rd and 38th overall, respectively, last season.
House has established himself as one of the top players in the conference this fall with two tourney wins and top-10 efforts in all four of SUNY Cobleskill’s events this season. His 67 card in the Fighting Tigers’ home tourney on September 1st is the lowest score by a NAC golfer so far this year.
#6 Thomas College
Head Coach: Don Roberts
(1) Trevor Dolbier, 79.9 (2) Parker Foley, 83.6 (3) AJ Davis, 85.1 (4) Tim Worster, 90.7 (5) Jackson Arbour, 89.5
Thomas placed fourth with a 671 team score in the 2023 NAC Championship and returns two players from that squad: graduate Parker Foley (Hermon, Maine) and sophomore Trevor Dolbier (Rangely, Maine), who finished 18th and 26th, respectively, a year ago. Dolbier and freshman AJ Davis (Turner, Maine) have both won events this season and the team’s five NAC participants have combined to record 10 top-10 finishes overall.
#7 UMaine-Presque Isle
Head Coach: Michael Boone (1st Year)
(1) Garrett Chadwick, 83.5 (2) Branden Oliver, 88.9 (3) Spencer Harman, 91.9 (4) Ethan Anderson, 93.6 (5) Dawson Whitten, 98.8
The Owls placed 10th in the 2023 NAC Championship and senior Branden Oliver (Lincoln, Maine), who placed 41st overall, is their lone returner among the team’s 2024 participants. Oliver and junior Garrett Chadwick (Brighton, Colo.) both posted sixth-place finishes this season and sophomore Ethan Anderson (Greenville, Maine) added a 10th-place performance this fall.
#8 Lesley University
Head Coach: Eric Pappas
(1) JB Ouellette, 83.3 (2) Patrick Teasdale, 89.2 (3) Scott Scherrer, 91.8 (4) Hunter Treanor, 93.5 (5) Christian McElroy, 93.0
The Lynx competed in six tournaments during their first season as an NCAA DIII program and showed signs of a bright future. Freshman JB Ouellette (Old Saybrook, Conn.) has been one of the program’s highlights with a pair of third-place finishes and a NAC Rookie of the Week award on September 9th. Senior Patrick Teasdale (Stamford, Conn.) and sophomore Scott Scherrer (Skaneateles, N.Y.) have also played well, routinely scoring in the low to mid 80’s.
VTSU Johnson*
Head Coach: Matt Hill
(1) Adiance Cheromiah, 82.4 (2) Jack Senecal, 90.7 (3) Darone Frierson, 110.4
The Badgers will field three individuals in the 2024 NAC Championship and all three played in last year’s title tourney, as sophomore Jack Senecal (Essex Junction, Vt.) placed 23rd, junior Adiance Cheromiah (Laguna, N.M.) was 31st, and sophomore Darone Frierson (Baltimore, Md.) finished 54th in 2023.
2024 MEN'S GOLF PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP POLL:
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Husson University (8) |
80 |
| 2 |
SUNY Delhi (1) |
73 |
| 3T |
Maine Maritime Academy |
52 |
| 3T |
UMaine-Farmington |
52 |
| 5 |
SUNY Cobleskill |
50 |
| 6 |
Thomas College |
41 |
| 7 |
UMaine-Presque Isle |
24 |
| 8 |
Lesley University |
20 |
*VTSU Johnson will field three players as individuals and cannot score as a team