April 18, 2008

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's and women's golf teams depart on Friday for the BIG EAST Championships, which will be held this weekend in separate locations. The men's championship will be played at the par 72, 7,103-yard Traditions Golf Course in Hebron, Ky. The women will play the par 72, 6,080-yard Elks Run Golf Club in Batavia, Ohio.

Men's seeding is a random, blind draw by conference staff. Seton Hall was selected as the No. 1 seed, followed by USF at No. 2, Marquette at No. 3, Connecticut at No. 4 and Cincinnati at No. 5. Louisville is slotted sixth, Villanova seventh, Notre Dame, Georgetown and St. John's round out the top 10. Rutgers is 11th and DePaul 12th.

On the women's side, Notre Dame, ranked No. 23 in the Golfstat rankings, earns the top seed. Last year's champion Louisville follows at No.2. USF at No. 3, host Cincinnati at No. 4 and Georgetown at No. 5, with St. John's and Rutgers the sixth and seventh seeds.

The Georgetown women's team has enjoyed a solid spring campaign, with top-10 finishes in five tournaments, including top-five showings in the last two outings. The Hoyas battled harsh conditions at the Columbia University Roar EE Invitational on April 11-12, posting scores of 346, 327 and 324, but finished in fifth place. Junior Chelsea Curtis (Mashpee, Mass./Cape Cod Academy) finished in seventh after rounds of 81, 81 and 78 for a three-round total of 240.

In the team's prior outing, Georgetown also placed fifth at the Hoya Invitational with rounds of 310, 315 and 325. Junior Carly Hunt (Easton, Pa./Conestoga) led the team with a 12-over 228 to tie for sixth. Curtis finished fourth with a 155 at the NIU/Springlake Classic in the spring's second event.

Curtis leads Georgetown with a 77.00 stroke average this season, while Hunt is second on the team with a 79.05 average. In 10 events this year, Curtis has posted seven top-10 finishes, including five among the top-five, while Hunt has finished among the top-20 seven times, with two top-10 performances.

On the men's side, the Hoyas have finished among the top-10 teams overall in three of outings this spring, and in five events during the 2007-08 season. The Georgetown men's team carded a 901 (300-303-298) to finish 13th at the Princeton Invitational April 12-13. Sophomore Vincenzo Salina (Vandoeuvres, Switzerland/Institut Florimont) led GU, tying for 23rd at 221 (79-71-71).

The team's best finish was a tie for sixth at the Ironwood Pirate Intercollegiate with a 586 total. GU picked up a seventh place finish at the Lacrosse Homes Invitational and a 10th at the William & Mary Invitational.

Hager leads the men's team with a 74.31 stroke average and has three top-20 finishes, while Salina is second on the squad with a 74.93 average and two top-10 outings.

The Georgetown men's team finished in eighth place at the BIG EAST Championships last year, but have finished among the top-five teams 12 times in the last 16 years. ON the women's side, the Hoyas finished in fourth place in 2007, but were the league runner-ups in 2005 and 2006.