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Region Golf: Sickles' Milan Shoots 64

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Tribune staff

Published: October 20, 2008

TAMPA - She missed her last two birdie attempts, both inside 6 feet, yet Sickles High sophomore Alex Milan was about as happy as any golfer could be following Monday's Class 2A-Region 4 girls tournament at Heritage Isles Golf Club.

After all, she made eight birdies before those final two pars. Yes, if she had made those last two birdies she would have shot 10-under-par 62, but, 64 was pretty nice as well.

"I got a little nervous there at the end, thinking of how low the score could be," Milan said. "I didn't hit the last (birdie) putt (a six footer), firm enough, but it still was a great round."

A great round that earned her the individual regional championship and a trip to next week's state tournament in Lakeland. Going with her to state will be Durant's team, which won with a 311 total. Wharton also qualified by placing second at 314.

"Before the round I was nervous because I knew there were so many great players out here," Milan said. "I just tried to stick to not getting too up or too down, and I did that pretty well until those final two putts."

Wharton's Shena Yang ended up second individually with a 5-under 67, a score she normally would have been enough to win. "No question, (Milan) shot a great round," Yang said. "You have to give her a lot of credit."

The next closest scores to Yang were 1-over-par 73s by Durant's Erika Wardzinski and King's Kelsey Gibson. Durant's Amy West, who has committed to play for Seminole Community College, was fifth overall at 2-over 74.

On the team side, Plant was third at 339, followed by Mitchell (256), Sickles (359) and East Lake (370).

Only the top two teams and top two individuals not on a qualifying team earned trips to the state tournament. The second individual, however, had to finish inside five shots of the winner. No player, other than Yang, finished with five shots of Milan's 64.

2A-Region 4 Girls Individual Scores
1. Milan, Sickles 64. 2. Yang, Wharton 67. 3. Gibson, King; Wardzinski, Durant 73. 5. West, Durant 74. 6. Knox, Durant 75. 7. Wade, Palm Harbor; R. Van Etten, Mitchell; King, Plant 78. 10. M. Van Etten, Mitchell 79.

2A-Region 4 Girls Team Scores
1. Durant 311: Wardzinksi 73, West 74, Reinhardt 81, Opfer 83, Higgins 100.
2. Wharton 314: Yang 67, Bradshaw 80, Hwang 83, Vail 84, Demick 92.
3. Plant 339.
4. Mitchell 356.
5. Sickles 359
6. East Lake 370
7. Gaither 384
8. Plant City 395
9. Clearwater (DNF)

CLASS 1A-REGION 5 BOYS

LARGO For the first time this decade, a Hillsborough County boys golf team won't compete at the Class 1A boys state tournament.

A couple of Pinellas County teams saw to that at the Bayou Club, as Clearwater Calvary Christian cruised to the region title with a team-total 304, and St. Pete Catholic finished second with a 317, which was nine strokes better than Hillsborough County's best finisher in Berkeley Prep, which took third.

At least one Hillsborough County team had advanced to state from this region in every year since 2000, with the Bucs being the team to keep that streak alive last season.

Pinellas County also produced the individual medalist in Shorecrest's Jack Maguire, who shot a 2-under 70 and was the only golfer in the field to break par. Maguire also was the only individual golfer in the field to advance to next week's state tournament at The Golf Club at Bridgewater in Lakeland.

Berkeley Prep was led by sophomore Blake Morris, who shot 77 and finished sixth, the best finish among Hillsborough County golfers. Kiran Ligam (79; ninth) and Austin Suarez (81; 15th) also managed top-15 finishes for the Bucs.

Jesuit finished fourth in the team standings, one stroke back of the Bucs. The Tigers had three golfers finish in the top 20, led by Anthony Maccaglia, who tied for 10th. Jesuit's Trent Silver (83) tied for 20th, a group that also included Tampa Catholic's Tommy Spitale and Tampa Prep's Corbin Hayes.

Jesuit's Jack Twomey, the individual medalist at last week's Class 1A-District 14 tournament, shot 82 and tied for 16th.

Class 1A-Region 5 Boys Individuals Scores
1. Jack Maguire, Shorecrest 70. 2. Taylor Hancock, Calvary Christian 73. 3. Lee McCoy, Calvary Christian 75. 4. Matt Brookins, Calvary Christian 76. 5. Devin Hernandez, St. Pete Catholic 77. 6. Blake Morris, Berkeley Prep 77. 7. Evan Fleeman, Lakeland Sonrise Christian 77. 8. Matt Baylor, St. Pete Catholic 78. 9. Kiran Ligam, Berkeley Prep 79. 10. Aaron Watson, Calvary Christian; Anthony Maccaglia, Jesuit; Anthony Sligh, Lakeland Christian; Derek Hernandez, St. Pete Catholic; Travis Ralph, Indian Rocks Christian 80.

Class 1A-Region 5 Boys Team Scores
1. Clearwater Calvary Christian 304
2. St. Pete Catholic 317
3. Berkeley Prep 326
4. Jesuit 327
5. Shorecrest 332
6. Lakeland Christian 341
7. Tampa Prep 353
8. Lakeland McKeel Academy 394
9. Winter Haven All Saints' 404

CLASS 2A-REGION 4 BOYS

TARPON SPRINGS Wentworth Golf Club has a history of golfers walking away with stories of great rounds lost by one or two errant shots on its tight, undulating layout.

In the Class 2A-Region 4 meet, only East Lake seemed to walk away with no such tales to tell.

Led by individual medalist Linzy Clark's even-par 71, the Eagles shot 320 to take the region title by 12 shots over longtime rival Dunedin.

"We worked hard all year to put ourselves in position for this," said East Lake coach Terry O'Reilly, making his second consecutive state tournament appearance. "We have five No. 1s. We don't have a superstar."

Clark's score, posted an hour after the first groups came in, knocked out Plant and Division I-bound senior Doug Letson, who finished one shot behind Dunedin for the final state qualifying spot. The Panthers also were hurt by the loss of No. 2 player Charles Silverfield, who according to Coach Dan Vona received a 10-day suspension from school on Friday.

"That kind of dictated what our scores were, to be honest with you," Vona said. "On his bad days, he shoots 81, so that put a damper on our spirit a little bit. … That situation aside, these guys grinded it out. …They fought hard."

Riverview junior Ian McConnell will make his second consecutive trip to the state tournament after posting a 72. He was tied with Letson, his playing partner, through 16 holes, but eagled the 499-yard par-5 17th after nearly holing his second-shot, a 220-yard 3-wood which burned the edge of the cup and stopped four feet from the pin.

Letson, who had an assistant coach from Florida State University tracking his every shot, finished with 74, missing an individual qualifying spot by one stroke when Palm Harbor University's Matt Cote posted 73 in the group behind him. Cote was 3-under through 14 holes, but made quadruple bogey-8 at the 15th, and failed to get up and down on 18 to finish a stroke behind McConnell.

Pasco County's golfers also were shut out of the state tournament. Mitchell (336) missed a playoff for the final state qualifying berth by four shots. Senior Kenny Cavender, the County's top player for the past two years, shot 76 to finish fifth, making three birdies. But after the round he couldn't stop thinking about the 15th hole, where he hit two tee shots out of bounds en route to a quintuple bogey-9. Ridgewood senior Jordan Padova (80) also finished in the top 10 individually.

Plant City's Kyle Martin and Alonso's Cody Tibbets both shot 77 to finish sixth. Plant's Tyler Hagen was eighth (78).

In the team standings, Chamberlain (346) was fifth, King (351) sixth, Gaither (352) seventh, Newsome (353) eighth and Plant City (361) ninth.

Class 2A-Region 4 Individual Scores

1. Clark, East Lake 71. 2. McConnell, Riverview 72. 3. Cote, Palm Harbor U. 73. 4. Letson, Plant 74. 5. Cavender, Mitchell 76. 6. Martin, Plant City; Tibbets, Alonso 76. 8. Hagan, Plant 78. 9. Buffington, Chamberlain 79. 10. Huston, Dunedin, J. Padova, Ridgewood 80.

Class 2A-Region 4 Team Scores

1. East Lake 320
2. Dunedin 332
3. Plant 333
4. Mitchell 336
5. Chamberlain 346
6. King 35
7. Gaither 352
8. Newsome 353
9. Plant City 361

CLASS 1A-REGION 3 GIRLS

GAINESVILLE What a difference a year makes. For that matter, what a difference a week makes.

In last year's Class 1A-District 9 tournament, the Zephyrhills girls finished fifth with a score of 493.
At last week's district tournament, the Bulldogs, with four of the five players returning from the 2007 team, shot 444 to advance to Monday's Class 1A-Region 3 tournament at the Mark Bostic Golf Course at the University of Florida.

Although Zephyrhills finished fifth and saw its season end, the girls shot a combined 404 – 89 strokes better than last year's district score and 40 shots better than last week.

Ashley Zullo (98) dropped 27 strokes off her district score while Megan Huppert (112) shot 13 strokes better. Other region scores were posted by Sarah Bainiszewski (95), Laurren McLeod (99) and Taylor Brady (119).

Inverness Citrus won the tournament with a 352 score, followed by Gainesville Oak Hall (360). Both teams will play next week at the state tournament in Lakeland. Joinging the teams will be individuals Audrey Monssoh of Montverde Academy and Jessica Negron of Ocala West Port. Both shot 72. Monssoh won a playoff to earn medalist honors.

Other local scores included Saddlebrook's Lauren Riehle (80) and Ankita Tiwana (81).

Girls Class 1A-Region 3 Team Scores

1. Inverness Citrus 352
2. Gainesville Oak Hall 360
3. Ocala West Port 378
4. The Villages 403
5. Zephyrhills 404 (Sarah Bainiszewski 95, Ashley Zullo 98, Laurren McLeod 99, Megan Huppert 112, Taylor Brady 119)
6. Mount Dora 447
7. Ocala Trinity Catholic 457
8. Crystal River 470
9. Mount Dora Bible 505

CLASS 1A-REGION 3 BOYS

GAINESVILLE In only its third year of competition, Wiregrass Ranch was making its first appearance in a region golf tournament.

Although they didn't get the results they were looking for, the Bulls gained valuable experience in the boys Class 1A-Region 3 tournament at the Gainesville Country Club.

Wiregrass Ranch, led by Logan Horrigan's 8-over-par 80, finished tied for sixth with a team score of 355. Other Bulls scores were Dylan Larson (85), Chris Kluender (95) and Nick Stutt (95).

"It was a good learning experience for the young kids," said Wiregrass Ranch coach Nick Cuviello. "Especially since we have one senior, three sophomores and one freshman. Last year, we weren't even close to getting through the district tournament."

Ocala Trinity Catholic (312) and Inverness Citrus (313) advanced to next week's state tournament in Lakeland as teams while J.D. Tomlinson of Gainesville Oak Hall (73) and Joaquin Martinez of Montverde Academy (75) advanced as individuals. Martinez defeated Bryan Odaiyar of Ocala St. John Lutheran in a 1-hole playoff for the final state qualifying spot.

Other locals included Kentaro Toyota of Bishop McLaughlin (86) and Alex Bensahel of Saddlebrook Prep (92).

Class 1A-Region 3 Boys Team Scores

1. Ocala Trinity Catholic 312
2. Inverness Citrus 313
3. Montverde Academy 329
4. Mount Dora 334
5. Gainesville Oak Hall 339
6. Crystal River 355
6. Wiregrass Ranch 355 (Logan Horrigan 80, Dylan Larson 85, Chris Kluender 95, Nick Stutt 95, James Mudge 100)
6. Tavares 355
9. Gainesville PK Yonge 377

Scott Purks, Adam Adkins, Rick Harmon, Bart O'Connell

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