Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's golf team took third at the 2009 Northeast Conference Championship and the 2010 NEC Men's Golf Preseason Coaches' Poll puts the Colonials back in that same position for the 2010 Championship. The Colonials, who won a tournament for the first time since the 2001 season by taking first at the Knights Invitational in October, have not been selected this high in the preseason poll since the 2006 season when they were also picked third.

Sacred Heart earned eight votes to take a third-straight NEC championship. Central Connecticut State was picked second followed by Robert Morris, Monmouth, Long Island, Saint Francis (Pa.), Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's, Wagner and St. Francis (N.Y.).

The Colonials, under ninth-year head coach Jerry Stone, are led by junior C.G. Mercatoris (Brookville, Pa. / Brookville) and his 74.9 stroke average. The junior had four top-10 finishes in five tournaments this past fall after earning All-Tournament and All-Conference honors at the 2009 NEC Championships. Senior Joe Kabana (East Stroudsburg, Pa. / Notre Dame) is third on the team with a 78.4 stroke average.

A trio of freshmen - Brock Pomepeani (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell), Brandon Pompeani (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell) and Max Cahn (Nyack, N.Y. / Nyack) - have given the program high hopes for both this season and the future.

Cahn set the bar high in freshman campaign, tallying a hole-in-one at the Bucknell University Invitational en route to a program record round of 65. He has one top-10 finish this season and a 78.3 average. Brock tied for sixth at the Knights Fall Invitational in his last round of the fall season, averaging an eight-over par round of 79.4. Brandon's best round of the season was also at the Knights Invitational where he took second. He averages a 79.9.