WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. – Junior Nicholas VanDamia (Erie, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) carded a career-low two-day total of 145 to win individual medalist honors, while leading the Penn State Behrend men's golf team to their fourth straight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship on Monday at Oak Tree Country Club.
VanDamia, the 2013 AMCC runner up, posted a career-low 72 on the second day of the tournament to earn his first-ever individual title. Senior Dante Vetica (Hermitage, PA/Kennedy Catholic), the leader after day one, came in second place with a score of 147. The previous two-time AMCC Champion fired a 76 on the final 18 holes this afternoon.
This is the second straight year the Lions had the top two golfers in the championship. Behrend won the conference crown by a commanding 40 stroke lead (605) next to Penn State Altoona with a 645 for second and Pitt-Bradford in third with 661.
The Lions have won six total AMCC Championships and five under head coach James Bowen. Behrend joins Pitt-Greensburg as the only other team to win four consecutive championships. The Lions have earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships in May.
Senior Casey Courneen (Sewickley, PA/Quaker Valley) shaved six strokes off his score from day one (80) to finish with a 74 to tie for fourth overall with a 154 total. Senior Scott Klein (Fairview, PA/Fairview) also placed in the Top 10, owning eighth all by himself with a two-day score of 159 (80-79).
The fourth senior on the team, Dan Corbin (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon), tied for 22nd overall to round out the Lions' top five golfers for the championships. He tallied an 88 on day two for a 171 total.
For the women's golf conference championships, Lisa Giancola finished fourth out of four golfers with a 108 on Sunday.
