FAYETTEVILLE, PA --- The Xavier men’s golf team enjoyed a historic, record-setting weekend at the 2001 Verizon Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Championship at the Penn National Golf Club in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania from April 20-22.

The Musketeers captured the championship with a school and A-10 Championship record 23-under par three-round total of 841, earning the the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Golf Tournament.

“It’s hard to explain how great the feeling is to make the NCAA Tournament,” said Xavier senior co-captain Tim Donovan (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier), who set a long list of school and conference records on his way to winning the A-10 Championship medalist honors with a 19-under par total for three rounds.

Xavier finished the 54-hole tournament at 23-under par and ten strokes ahead of second place Rhode Island. The Musketeers, who enjoyed a three-day total of 841 (279-282-280=841), had never finished a tournament under par as a team in school history. The first round total of 279 was also a school record, while the final round of 280 ranks as the second-best in school history.”

“We didn’t come in with any expectations,” said Donovan. “We all just concentrated on giving our best efforts.”

“We thought we needed to play as well as we could to win the title over a team like Rhode Island,” said Xavier head coach Doug Steiner. “We exceeded everyone’s expectations. That was the most impressive display I’ve ever seen by a Xavier team. Teams talk about bringing out their best at the best possible time. They did that and earned the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.”

The team records were impressive. The individual efforts of Donovan, though, will go down in history. Donovan blew away the competition with a three-day total of 197 (67-64-66=197), establishing a new Atlantic 10 championship record and a new Xavier record for 54 holes. Donovan also set a new course record by shooting 64 on the second day of action at Penn National Golf Club, tying the one-round school record set by Steve Dixon in 1998 at the Grizzly Course at Kings Island. His 19-under par total made him the first-ever Atlantic 10 Champion to shoot under 200 in the three-day championship.

"He came here and did something that will likely never be repeated," Coach Steiner said. "That may be the lowest 54-hole score in the nation this year." Steiner, who also led Xavier to the 1998 Atlantic 10 Championship, was named 2001 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach-of-the-Year. The award marks the sixth time that Steiner has been award conference coach-of-the-year honors in 13 years as the XU head coach, including twice in the A-10 and four times in Xavier’s old home, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Xavier sophomore Matt Makinson (Coquitlam, BC/Centennial Secondary) shot a 2-under par (214), finishing tied for fourth with fellow teammate, senior co-captain Jeff Marr (Lexington, KY/Tates Creek). Makinson earned Most Outstanding Rookie Honors for his performance. Makinson, Donovan and Marr earned All-Conference honors for their performances.

The other two Musketeers also fared well this past weekend. Sophomore Bryon Harger (Marion, OH/River Valley) finished tied for eighth with a three-round total of 220. Sophomore Tim Smith (Buffalo, NY/St. Francis) finished tied for 11th with a three-round total of 221.

Xavier will find out on May 8 where and when they will play in the NCAA Regionals. Before that, though, the Musketeers will take time to celebrate the conference title and finish out the regular season at the always tough Bruce Fossum Spartan Invitational this weekend at Michigan State.