By Alex Wagner
Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s golf team had a strong finish at the Navy Invitational last weekend, ending up in a three-way tie for eighth out of 20 schools after especially strong play in the final round on Sunday.

Despite a steady downpour and windy conditions in Annapolis, Md., J.J. Szmadzinski ’13 and Pete Scialabba ’15 led the Bison to a strong finish on the second day of competition. Szmadzinski shot a 75, tying for the fifth-lowest score among 109 players, which gave him a 152-stroke total for the weekend and a spot in the nine-way tie for 20th place. Scialabba finished with the same amount of strokes by following his 74 on Saturday with a 78 on Sunday.

“Weathering the elements played a huge factor especially on the second day at Navy, with high winds and steady rain resulting in much higher scoring than usual,” Szmadzinski said.

Schuyler Stitzer ’14, Will Bachman ’12 and Billy Wright ’14 rounded out the weekend for the Orange and Blue with overall scores of 155, 158 and 162 respectively.

This strong group effort moved the team from 14th place Sunday morning to a tie for eighth by the end of the day.  Only Penn, Navy and George Washington outshot the Bison on Sunday, which is a remarkable feat considering the unfavorable weather conditions.

Penn came away with the overall win, beating second-place George Washington by four strokes. Max Marsico of Penn took the individual title, shooting just one over par for the entire weekend.

“This weekend’s tournament at Navy was an important preparation for the Patriot League Championship at Bucknell this upcoming weekend. Most of the other Patriot League schools were there so it gave us a preliminary indication of how we stack up going into next week,” Szmadzinski said.

The Bison finished 10 strokes behind Navy and one stroke behind Colgate. They tied Lafayette and beat Lehigh by nine strokes.

The 2012 Patriot League Championship will be held at the Bucknell Golf Club tomorrow and Sunday.