ANGOLA – Area girls golf teams had mixed results at the Angola Sectional held at Zollner Golf Course on Saturday.
The Fremont Eagles shot a 377 and punched one of three team tickets for next Friday’s East Noble Regional at Noble Hawk Golf Links.
The DeKalb Barons shot a 378 and tied with Snider for third, but in a crushing case of déjà vu, the Barons found themselves on the outside looking in for the second consecutive season after Snider advanced on the fifth-score tiebreaker.
DeKalb can take some solace in the fact that its top two golfers qualified for regionals as individuals and will be headed back to Kendallville next Friday.
The No. 1 golfer for the Barons, Lillie Cone, was the individual sectional champion after shooting an 80, ahead of Bishop Dwenger’s Amelia Frazier in second with an 81 and Fremont’s Kenadee Porath in third with 84.
DeKalb’s No. 2 golfer, Sophie Pfister was the third individual of non-qualifying teams to punch her ticket, shooting a 92.
In addition to Porath’s 84, Fremont got an 87 from Kloe Glendening, a 102 from Presley Scott, a 104 by Reagan Rhodes and a score of 114 by Emery Laughlin.
Porath said she got off to a bit of a rough start on the back nine after shooting 41 on the front. She opened the back nine going bogey-bogey-double bogey. But Porath said she knew her teammates would pick her up. She got up-and-down on the par-4 16th and birdied the par-3 17th.
“I was getting frustrated at first, but I kept hearing that my teammates had my back,” Porath said. “So I kept pushing through. You just have to breathe after each shot.”
Fremont coach Eric Wirick said he knew the Angola Sectional would be very competitive – and his girls rose to the challenge.
“We knew there were four teams that were going to compete, and that’s what happened,” Wirick said. “We were the fourth seed, so we knew we’d have to play really well. I’m very proud of the girls.”
Fremont came through with its best 18-hole round of the season.
DeKalb, meanwhile, backed up Cone and Pfister with a 97 from Kaitlin Traylor; a 109 from Delaney Cox; and a 128 from Bella Karch.
DeKalb coach James Fislar said it was a crushing finish for his team, but he was proud of their effort on a long day that started with their No. 5 golfers teeing off at 11:10 am
“The girls gave it their all,” Fislar said. “They hit it well off the tee. We could have picked up a few shots in our short game. Every stroke matters.”
Getting two golfers through to the regional tournament was a positive, Fislar said, as is Cone winning the sectional title for a second straight year.
Host Angola was eighth with a 450. The Hornets were led by Lucy Smith with a 97, followed by Brooke Shelburne with a 115, Sara Smith with a 129, Taylor Shelburne with 117 and River Spreuer with 121.
Garrett had two girls compete on Saturday, with Courtney Barse hitting a 107 and Sydney Suelzer recording a 121.
A total of 15 teams will be at the East Noble Regional: Carroll, Northridge and Concord from the East Noble Sectional; Culver Community, Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw from the Warsaw Sectional; Homestead, Norwell and Bluffton from the Norwell Sectional; and Southern Wells, Northfield and Wabash from the Eastbrook Sectional.
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