It wasn't easy, but the Roadrunner Men's Golf Team registered one of their key goals for the 2025 season -- winning a third straight Garden State Athletic Conference championship!
The three-peat became reality when the RCSJ top four combined for a meet low 314 points on the Flanders Valley Golf Club course Wednesday. Despite tough battles with GSAC rivals during the regular season, the Runners were able to outlast County College of Morris (325), Ocean County College (344) and RCSJ Cumberland (364) with little fanfare.
And one of the heroes, ironically, proved to be freshman Andrew Michalski, who missed recent competition due to illness.
Michalski emerged as meet medalist with an eye-opening low 73 score, followed closely by teammates Julian Boyer (79), and Nick Iuliucci (81) and Colin Pape (81). Michalski's finish was the first meet medalist for a Roadrunner team in Coach Guy Davidson's career.
Michalski's 73 finish edged out solid efforts from County College of Morris golfer Mike Monahan (75) and RCSJ Cumberland's Mateo Medina (76).
"After my illness, I came out for some practice swings -- and I didn't like what I saw," said Michalski following his triumphant GSAC meet "I was concerned about whether or not I would be ready for today's meet. This was better than I expected."
In fact, the 73 score was Michalski's lowest round this season, which was no surprise to Coach Davidson.
"You miss having a player like Andrew when he's out of the lineup," said Davidson. "He showed amazing resilliency and provides us a lot of depth. He really sparked the entire team today into shooting their best rounds. It was great to have two players finish in the 70s today."
Indeed, Boyer also shot in the 70s with his 79 score while Captain Nick Iuliucci and Pape were right behind him with 81 each to round out the 314 team score.
On the women's side, the Runners also sparkled! Sophomore Lanie Guzman capped an amazing meet with a team low of 109 points, followed by Miya Villari at 122. County College of Morris star Sydni Sundstrom was the female medalist with a 93 score.