The Olentangy Orange girls golf team captured its second straight district title and the Olentangy Liberty boys nabbed runner-up honors to highlight Tuesday’s Division I district championship action.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
The Pioneer girls, the defending state champs, punched a ticket to the Division I State Tournament with a combined 304 at Crooks Creek. The state showcase is scheduled for Oct. 20-21 at The Ohio State University Gray Golf Course.
Junior Ashley Au fired a 71 to earn medalist honors. Other Orange contributors included Riley Dean (74), Alyssa Kim (76) and Natalia Sompolvorachai (83).
“The girls did a good job of staying focused on their own game and game plan,” Pioneer coach Cari DeAngelis said. “It was definitely a fight out there today, but being able to stay pretty even with their emotions was important.”
Dublin Jerome finished second with a 307, earning the district’s other ticket to states.
The Liberty girls were also in action, finishing fourth with a 315. Priyasha Kota led the way with a 75 while Makenna Brown (77), Sidney Kadlic (79) and Kavya Manocha (84) also chipped in.
The Patriot boys, meanwhile, carded a combined 307 to earn runner-up honors at Apple Valley — an effort good enough to earn them their third trip to states in the last four years. They’ll play for the right to be crowned state champs Oct. 20-21 at The Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course.
Senior Trey Rath tied with Central Crossing’s Caleb Davern for medalist honors with a 71. Other Liberty scorers included Jacob Hickman (75), Grant Smeltzer (80) and Cole Corder (81).
Dublin Jerome won the district title with a 294 while Thomas Worthington finished on the outside looking in, just four strokes behind Liberty.
“It was nerve-racking,” Patriot coach Ryan Snivley said. “Trey definitely got it done for us being medalist. He knew he needed to step up in order to take the team to states.
“The other guys didn’t give up after having a bad fifth hole. We didn’t play great, but steady on a day that had tough course conditions with it being wet and playing long.”
The Orange boys, like the Liberty girls, saw their season come to a close, finishing 6th as a team. Jonathan Green and Alex Cabungcal led the Pioneers with 76s while Nathan Brown shot a 79 and Nate English had an 86.
Big Walnut’s Michael Ford and Kenny Schneider competed as individuals, firing respective rounds of 79 and 94. Olentangy’s Trey Wilson also saw a solid senior season come to a close, carding an 84.
