VERSAILLES — For just the second time in program history, National Trail’s girls golf team advanced to the district tournament.
Led by sophomore Makenna Jones, who was battling an illness, the Blazers finished fourth at the Stillwater Valley Golf Course on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
Jones, who finished 9th at state last year, shot an 80 to finish second overall behind Eaton’s Sarah Willis. Willis shot a course record 69. Savanna Abner shot 105 with Caitlin Gilland shooting a 117 and Michelle Massa shooting 125.
“(The) girls played really well to advance to districts,” Trail coach Troy Ferguson said. “Going in the goal was to advance as a team, and we knew we had to play well to do so and the girls responded. When you look at it we were two strokes away from being second as a team instead we lost a fifth player tie break due to only having four girls.”
Versailles won the sectional title with a 366. Ft. Loramie was second with 426, while Miami East and National Trail tied for third with each shooting 427.
“Makenna was able to fight through some flu-like symptoms to shoot an 80, which was good enough for runner-up overall as an individual. Savanna started her round well, but got in a bit of a funk to shoot a 105, which we know she’s able to improve upon and I’d like to see her place in the top 10 at Districts,” Ferguson said. “Caitlin played one of her best rounds of the year with a 117. She played the first couple of holes well and that set the tone for her for the day. She was having fun and her play reflected that. Michelle played well too finishing just a few strokes off her personal best with a 125. She got off to a bit of a rough start but recovered nicely and played a really smart round of golf and was able to extend her golf career by at least one more week.”
Ferguson said he knows his team will be facing an elite field at the district meet, but is looking forward to his team competing.
“Moving on to districts for just the second time in school history as a team will bring about very stiff competition, with the likes of Alter, CJ (Chaminade Julienne) and Versailles, along with some of the Cincinnati area’s best as well,” he said. “We’re going to have a couple of days of good practice and give it our best shot and see if we can make a run at it.”
The Blazers will tee off Wednesday, Oct. 4, beginning at 8:50 a.m. at PipeStone.
The season for the Blazers boys team came to an end Tuesday, Sept. 26, at Turtle Creek.
Austin Knapp shot a 102 to lead the team, Tyler Porter carded a 109, Sam Roberts shot a 113 and Chris Brubaker a 119. Caleb Miller also shot 138 to round out scorers.
“It was just a tough day for us. I was hoping for Chris to play well and give himself a shot to advance, but he was never able to get it rolling,” Ferguson said. “It was overall a good season, you look at wins and losses and it wasn’t great, but when you see that we shot a 240 in our first match and we’re able to get that to a 206 in the last week of the season, the progress we made will hopefully continue into the off season and help us start 2018 with even greater improvement.”
Girls Qualifiers: Top 4 teams and 4 individuals not on a qualifying team.
Team Place: * Indicates qualifying team.
1. Versailles* 366 (Lauren Durham 88, Jorja Pothast 83, Morgan Heitkamp 98, Anna Groff 105, Morgan Barlage 97); 2. Ft. Loramie* 426 (Amy Eilerman 110, Grace Ruhenkamp 107, Rylee Poeppelman 119, Riley Middendorf 103, Savannah Henning 106); 3. Miami East* 427 (Emily Rowley 97, Paige Lawson 108, Marissa Kearns 114, Maci Krites 117, Kearsten Kirby 108); 4. National Trail* 427 (Makenna Jones 80, Savanna Abner 105, Michelle Massa 125, Caitlin Gilland 117, 0); 5. Arcanum 443; 6. Riverside 445; 7. Triad 460; 8. Eaton 463; 9. Ben. Logan 468; 10. Tri-Village 468; 11. Franklin Monroe 469; 12. Indian Lake 492; 13. Anna 499; 14. Covington 512; 15. Bradford 0;
Individual Scores: * Indicates qualifying individual.
1. Sarah Willis* (Eaton) 69; 2. Makenna Jones (National Trail) 80; 3. Jorja Pothast (Versailles) 83; 4. Lauren Durham (Versailles) 88; 5. Lexi Unger* (Arcanum) 96, Mailiis Simovart* (Ben. Logan) 96; 7. Dana Jones* (Riverside) 97, Morgan Barlage (Versailles) 97, Emily Rowley (Miami East) 97; 10. Morgan Heitkamp (Versailles) 98; 11. Kierstyn Severt (Riverside) 99; 12. Riley Middendorf (Ft. Loramie) 103; 13. Kayleigh Boldman (Triad) 104; 14. Savanna Abner (National Trail) 105, Anna Groff (Versailles) 105; 16. Savannah Henning (Ft. Loramie) 106; 17. Grace Ruhenkamp (Ft. Loramie) 107; 18. Paige Lawson (Miami East) 108, Kearsten Kirby (Miami East) 108; 20. Claire Haviza (Franklin Monroe) 109; 21. Olivia Pulfer (Anna) 110, Amy Eilerman (Ft. Loramie) 110, Maia Stump (Bradford) 110, Madison Mankin (Arcanum) 110; 25. Grace Zimmerman(Franklin Monroe) 111; 26. Jazmine Hileman(Tri-Village) 112, Andi Bietry (Tri-Village) 112; 28. Macey Taylor (Indian Lake) 113; 29. Marissa Kearns (Miami East) 114; 30. Emily Hedrick (Covington) 115; 31. Maci Krites (Miami East) 117, Ainesleigh Elstro (Eaton) 117, Lexi Moore (Triad) 117, Anna Nott (Triad) 117, Caitlin Gilland (National Trail) 117; 36. Elliana Sloan (Arcanum) 118, Kloey Murphey(Tri-Village) 118; 38. Gabrielle Schmidt(Ben. Logan) 119, Rylee Poeppelman (Ft. Loramie) 119, Maddy Wogoman (Arcanum) 119; 41. Mereana Steely (Riverside) 120; 42. Maura Rose (Anna) 122, Sydney Artz (Arcanum) 122, Olivia Butz (Triad) 122; 45. Taylor Mackesy (Indian Lake) 124, Sarah Seeley (Ben. Logan) 124, Breanna Lavy (Franklin Monroe) 124, Shelby Sheets (Triad) 124; 49. Grace Fee (Franklin Monroe) 125, Michelle Massa (National Trail) 125; 51. Julia Mellott (Tri-Village) 126; 52. Emily Thompson (Covington) 127, Tiana Hughes (Indian Lake) 127; 54. Morgan Meyer (Anna) 128, Morgan Lowe (Covington) 128, Belle Elliott (Indian Lake) 128; 57. Willow Titus (Ben. Logan) 129, Rachel Taylor (Riverside) 129; 59. Josie Patrick (Franklin Monroe) 131; 60. Sammie Lee (Ben. Logan) 132; 61. Alina Fore (Eaton) 133; 62. Lauren Flory (Tri-Village) 134; 63. Courtnie Smith (Riverside) 135; 64. Riley Thobe (Anna) 139; 65. Mackenzie Gambill (Covington) 142; 66. Nakita Albinus (Eaton) 144; 67. Katie Hembree (Covington) 147; 68. Hayli Ullom (Indian Lake) 153; 69. Carly Bricker (Eaton) 159; 70. Lindsay McEldowney (Anna) 183; 71. Jennifer Wolf (Bradford) DNS;
