By, Jessica Shusko

SANTA CLARA, Calif.- The 2012-13 campaign for the Santa Clara University men's golf team is turning out to look extremely promising. Recently, the Bronco freshman class was ranked No. 1 among all NCAA Division I programs.

The class includes Carlos Briones (San Lorenzo, Calif./Moreau Catholic), Gio Gandionco (Cebu City, Philippines/Paref Springdale School), Martin Keskari (Frankfurt, Germany/Carl-Schurz-Schule) and Drew Miller (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Chaminade College Prep). Each have been instant contributors from their first days on the Mission campus.

"I am very proud of the performance of our freshmen class so far this year and it was nice to see them being recognized by Golfstat after the fall season," expressed eighth-year SCU head men's golf coach Rob Miller. "It bodes well for the future of our program that we have such a talented and deep new class, all of whom are getting a chance to compete from day one here at Santa Clara. That immediate experience should help them develop faster at the collegiate level. It should be an exciting four years for SCU men's golf."

The Bronco freshmen have worked hard and it paid off in a big way, receiving such lofty recognition from Golfstat. This is a very well deserved accolade for the Broncos, including Coach Miller, who recruited Northern California's number two top collegiate golf prospect in Briones, along with Southern California star, Miller, and international talents Keskari and Gandionco.

"I found out that our freshman class is number one in the country by my dad," explained Briones. "Before I could tell any of my teammates and coach, Drew Miller actually broke the news to the freshmen, and eventually the whole team. It was definitely not unexpected, because we've put in a lot of hard work since the beginning of the (fall) season."

These four newcomers are a great addition to an already accomplished group of Broncos, including juniors Scott Lowe (Calgary, Alberta Canada/Edge School) and Bobby Monaco (Eugene, Oregon/South Eugene). Adding these new freshmen only adds more momentum to where the program is headed, and will hopefully help bring the Broncos even more success when taking on the difficult schedule they face in the spring, matching up with some of the nation's best talent.

"(This class) will surely make us play better in the spring," explained Miller. "We will go into every tournament knowing that we can compete against, and beat, top teams. That mindset and confidence will be very important to us."

The Broncos spring season will kick off on January 28^th with the Arizona Intercollegiate tournament. 

Pictured above (r-l) Head Coach Rob Miller, Drew Miller, Scott Lowe, Brett Komoto, Carlos Briones, Martin Keskari and Bobby Monaco