Sports

Fagan Picks LIU

Berlin senior will play golf for Blackbirds

Victoria Fagan's father, John Fagan, played four years of golf at Richmond University and her grandfather was also an avid golfer. Her dad worked off and on in the golf business and is currently a sales rep for Wilson Golf. But Fagan never felt pressure to play the game growing up.

So she didn't.

The summer before her freshman year in high school she told her dad she wanted to try to play. He took her out as did her grandparents Larry and Maryann Fagan. She fell in love with the game but still played ball sports, including volleyball at Berlin High School.

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How quickly did Fagan pick up the game? Fagan, is now a senior co-captain on the Berlin Girls Golf State Championship team, and has accepted a golf scholarship to play golf at Long Island University next year.

Fagan earned All-State and All-Conference honors this past season. She also qualified and competed in the New England High School Golf Tournament in New Hampshire, posting a top 10 finish.  

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She looked at Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Wagner and Holy Cross among other schools but loved everything about Long Island University.

Fagan, the daughter of Melissa and John Fagan, will be a critical component in our hopes to defend our state championship this spring. Fagan's swing coach is Dave Pezzino, the men's coach at The University of Connecticut.

Fagan joins fellow Redcoat golfers Kaelyn Garrity (Wagner College) Amy Bordonaro (Fairfield), Katie Francolino (Northwood University), Jen Rudy (Rutgers), Erica Barnes (Hofstra) and Alyssa Scheyd (Lehigh) as Division I college golfers. 

"I just loved everything about the campus when I visited," Fagan said. "The girls on the team were great and I got to meet the guys on the men's team and I also met the Athletic Director. I thought that was pretty great that they thought enough of me to have me meet the AD."

LIU was the college home of former Berlin boys golfer Ryan Lee, who passed away after being hit by a car in the city.

"When I met the men's coach and team, they knew I was from Berlin so we were able to talk about Ryan," Fagan said. "It was an instant icebreaker. They talked about how funny he was and I told them how we loved having him around Timberlin. So even though he wasn't there, Ryan helped me again. I wasn't thinking about him when I made the decision but it helped knowing that he loved it there and I loved everything too."

Fagan also said an important factor was the proximity of the school.

"It's close enough to home that I get back and forth to Berlin," she said. "I also will have my brother (Patrick) right down the road because he goes to Pace University in Manhattan."

While Fagan has made her decision, she is not ready to rest on her laurels.

"Making the decision has taken so much stress away from me, it was like a huge weight off my shoulders," she said. "I have slept the best I've slept the last few nights that I've slept in a while.

"Golf-wise, I'm going to keep pushing myself because I want us to win back-to-back state championships. I want to make All-Conference and All-State again and I'd like to play better at the New England Championship. I was in the top-10 last year but I'd like to maybe be in the top-five or win it. I also want to lower my scoring average. I broke 40 four or five times last year. I would like to do that a lot more and be consistent doing that."

 

 

 


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