Uniontown golfers earn state trip

FREDONIA -- All six members of Uniontown's golf team will appear at the Class 3-2-1A State Tournament after the Eagles finished third in the Fredonia Class 3-2-1A Regional Tournament here Monday.

The Eagles shot 547 as a team to win the final State berth by three strokes over Eureka. Host Fredonia was the winner with a 417 with Caney Valley second at 432.

"The conditions were very poor to try to golf in," Uniontown head coach Jason Tourtillott said. "The temperature only got up to 44. It was misty and rainy and the girls looked miserable. But you have to give them a lot of credit for hanging in there and fighting."

Tourtillott said that after their first nine holes, hopes for the Eagles were not looking all that promising. But they found ways to cut strokes off their scores on their second nines.

Bethany Ericson led the Eagles with an 18-hole total of 120, which pet her in 14th place. She shot 62 on the front nine but cut it down to 58 on the back. Eleven of the 13 golfers ahead of her were from either Caney or Fredonia with the other two individuals among the best golfers in the area this year.

Brooke Murrow had the next score for the Eagles, a 68-64--132. Emily Simpson shot 70-75--145 as she played the back nine holes first. Veronica Harrison was the fourth team scorer with her 67-83--150 as she also played the back nine first.

"Bethany played consistent with her first round," Tourtillott said. "Emily shot 5 strokes batter while Veronica took off 16 strokes and Brooke was a pleasant surprise with her best 18-hole score. That gave us a 3-stroke advantage over Eureka."

Also going to state for the Eagles will be Sabrena McAnulty and Raven Hixon. McAnulty shot 85-81--166 and Hixon finished at 96-97--193.

The individual crown was taken by Maggie Sloan of Pittsburg Colgan with a 45-44--89. She was the only competitor to shoot under 100. During the regular season, Sloan played for Pittsburg High School under a cooperative agreement and was the Southeast Kansas League champion. KSHSAA rules require players on "pseudo-team" sports such as golf, tennis and wrestling to compete for their own schools in the post-season.

The State Tournament will be held at Lake Barton Golf Course north of Great Bend Monday morning.

Team scores

Team qualifiers (All six members advance): 1. Fredonia (F) 417 (Wait 102, Oneal 103, Short 105, Ashenfelter 107), 2. Caney Valley (CV) 432 (L.Roper 103, Chaffin 104, Ward 107, Rolls 118), 3. Uniontown 574 (Ericson 120, Murro 132, Simpson 145, Harrison 150).

Other teams: 4. Eureka (E) 550 (Shaw 109, Blakeley 142, McMullen 147, Baeza 152), 5. Yates Center (YC) 577 (German 120, Baker 131, Hartwig 156, Jennings 170), 6. Galena (G) 586 (Thompson 123, Gowens 146, Adams 154, Dugan 163).

Incomplete team: Pittsburg Colgan (PC).

Medalists

1. Maggie Sloan, PC, 45-44--89; 2. Lindsey Wait, F, 50-52--102; 3. Lindsey Oneal, F, 103; 4. Lindsey Roper, CV, 51-52--103; 5. Page Chaffin, CV, 50-54--104;

6. Tres Short, F, 53-52--105; 7. Melissa Ashenfelter, F, 50-57--107; 8. Tiffany Ward, CV, 54-53--107; 9. Brittany Shaw, E, 59-50--109; 10. Robyn Anderson, F, 57-55--112.

At-large qualifiers: Sloan; Shaw; 15. Maggie German, YC, 60-60--120; 16. Kyndra Thompson, G, 60-63--123; 17. Emily Baker, YC, 65-66--131.