VERSAILLES — Twin Valley South’s Nathan Osborn and National Trail’s Makenna Jones each earned Player of the Year honors at the Cross County Conference golf tournament held last week.
Osborn and Jones took the top individual golfer awards in the tourney which had a total of 76 boys and 36 girls from 13 teams competing for the league championship at Stillwater Valley Golf Course on Thursday, Sept. 22.
Osborn, a sophomore, earned medalist honors with a score of 72, good for even par on 18 holes. Only Tyler Weinert of Bethel came close to Osborn with a 78; Weinert was the only other player to score under an 80.
“I was very happy with myself, being able to play well today. I was just trying to come in and play the best I can and it turned out well,” Osborn said.
“I’m extremely proud of Nathan today,” said TVS coach Darcy Robinson. “He had a great start to the match with a birdie, and that pretty much set the tone for the day, as far as his play was concerned. We knew he was sitting in the leader spot, going into this tournament, but it was really important to us that he win this tournament. Last year he got Player of the Year too, but didn’t win the tournament, so I know that was what put the fire in his belly to want to win this thing today. When the team came up earlier this week to practice, he really paid attention to each hole, as far as how he wanted to play them. Nathan is a student of the game, and he rarely goes into any tournament unprepared.”
Only six schools brought a girls team, but the CCC does not crown a league champion without a certain number of schools. However, the National Trail Lady Blazers did score the lowest with a 414. Individual scores do count, and Jones was the top placer with a low score of 82.
“It was a good day,” said Jones, who earned both medalist and Player of the Year in the girls’ division. “It was some tough putting but the weather couldn’t be any better.”
In the girls’ division, the top five were named All-CCC based on their tournament scores. In addition to Jones, sophomore Savannah Abner placed fourth in the tournament for National Trail, carding a 100.
“I hadn’t really golfed like this before so I had a lot of fun,” Abner said. “I’m both nervous and excited about sectionals.”
“We’re very happy with the girls today,” National Trail girls’ coach Jordan Schlamb said. “We had a few mishaps in the scores but they played well and I’m very proud to have two players named to the All-CCC team.”
“We are looking forward to the post season,” Schlamb said.
In the boys division, the top 10 scorers were named All-CCC . Placement was based on total points scored in both the regular season and in the tournament.
From the three Preble County schools, along with Osborn, was Zach Tincher from Tri-County North who placed ninth with a total of 202.5 points.
Each school was allowed to have one special mention player for the season. Isaac Plankenhorn of National Trail, who placed 12th (195.5) Brett Booso of Tri-County North (16th, 189 points), and Willie Bowman of Twin Valley South (26th, 161 points) earned special mentions.
“Our team did exceptionally this year,” said North coach Tyler Jewell. “To go from 1-11 last year to 9-3 in league matches this year showed the players as a team had a purpose. I am very proud and excited for the seniors and how hard they worked this year. But as of this week, it is time to do it one more time and make it to sectionals and districts.”
Tri-County North finished in fifth place with a 362 team score and National Trail ended in seventh place with a 368, while Twin Valley South took eighth place with a 395.
Arcanum won the tournament with a team score of 344, but the league championship belonged to Franklin-Monroe, who went 22-2 on the season, despite not placing anyone in the top 10 in the tournament. Brian Happy of F-M was named Coach of the Year.
“I’m also proud of how Willie Bowman played, especially on the front nine,” Robinson said. “He struggled a bit on the back nine, but overall, had a pretty good day. Cole Petersen shot the best game of his life today, finishing with a 106. He continues to make big strides, being the first year he’s ever played. Our team finished 8th on the day, and in the CCC for the season. That’s an improvement over last year, but certainly not where we want to be. Our guys are starting to make goals for the next couple of years, as far as where we want to be. They’re becoming very committed to getting better, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
“It is a disappointing way to end the season,” said National Trail golf coach, Kurt Bachman. “When you come into a season with a team led by three seniors, who are all very capable golfers, to end it the way it did is not how I had hoped or how I expected our season to go. We talked, as a team, at the end of last year and the beginning of this season about doing the work necessary to establish a legacy at National Trail for this golf team. Unfortunately we, as a team, did not make that happen.”
Tuesday, Sept. 27, was the start of the post season sectionals in the quest for the OHSAA state finals. Twin Valley South was scheduled to play in the Arcanum sectional at Beechwood Golf course, while National Trail and Tri-County North were at the Greenville Sectionals at Turtle Creek Golf Course. The National Trail Lady Blazers will play on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at Versailles.
