June 26, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - Bringing the combination of talent and experience into the 2005-06 season, the Saint Joseph's University golf team seemed poised for a great year.

Two-straight medalist winners in sophomore Colin Corrigan and senior Billy Stewart jump-started the Hawks in the fall. Corrigan earned the individual honor in the season-opening Navy Fall Invitational in a playoff, while Stewart earned the outright title at Cornell as he helped guide SJU to a first-place finish.

Saint Joseph's would go on to finish the fall campaign with three top-five finishes, including a second-place finish at the Joe Agee Invitational.

Like the fall season, the Hawks opened up their spring with three solid performances, finishing second at the Fort Lauderdale Invitational and placing fifth at both the George Washington Invitational and the Saint Mary's College Invitational.

Following two challenging outings, Saint Joseph's turned its attention to the season-long goal: the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship at the Orange County National Golf Course in White Haven, Florida.

Despite having three former Atlantic 10 All-Conference members on the squad this season, the Hawks finished seventh in a deep field that sent the top-five teams to the NCAA Regionals.

Stewart led Saint Joseph's with a three-round score of 72-73-69/214 to finish 13th overall. Junior Phil Arouca was the only other Hawk to finish among the top-20 as he finished tied for 15th after shooting 70-75-71/216.

As a team, Saint Joseph's finished the season with a 300.8 strokes-per-round average over 29 rounds. Individually, Stewart led the Hawks this season with a 74.1 strokes-per-round average, including four top-10 finishes.