By Mark Carpenter-
Round One of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Girls Golf Tournament is in the books amidst the teams and individuals at the top of the respective leader boards are dominated by Adams County names. The first nine holes of the girls’ tourney were played on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at Buckeye Hills and when the day ended, it was a freshman from Manchester and a group of ladies from Seaman were leading the way.
As far as individual golfers go, it was Manchester freshman Taylor Ralston setting the pace for everyone, shooting a 37 over the first nine holes of the eventual 18-hole tournament. That performance gave her a six-stroke lead over her closest competitor, North Adams senior Brooklyn Tolle, who shot a 43 for the day.
Third in the individual standings was another of the Manchester youth movement, sophomore Kyleigh Mitchell, who carded a 45, followed by North Adams seniors Jessie Crawford at 46 and Rachel Bolen at 47.
Besides Ralston and Mitchell, the Lady Hounds had three other golfers on the course- Grace Hackney at 60, Lexi Nixon at 69, and Mary Wickerham at 69.
Besides the big three for North Adams, the Lady Devils got scores of 62 from Dakotah Davis and 64 from Teagan Lloyd.
Coach Marci Schneider’s West Union Lady Dragons were also paced by a freshman as Korynne Blanton topped the West Union scorers, shooting a 50 for the day. Blanton was followed by teammates Lauren Hoop (51), Clare Stapleton (55), Payton Stapleton (58), and Sofie Teeter (64).
The Peebles Lady Indians and Coach Charissa Gardner were led by Carrington McGlothin, who shot a 47 in Round One of the tourney. McGlothin was joined on the course by teammates Lydia Phipps (57), Vanessa Trotter (68), McKarlee Cooper (70), and Annymae Cluxton (70).
The final nine holes of the SHAC Girls Tournament will be played on Friday, Sept. 25 at Hilltop Golf Course.
Top Five Golfers/Round One: Taylor Ralston, Manchester (37), Brooklyn Tolle, North Adams (43), Kileigh Mitchell, Manchester (45), Jessie Crawford, North Adams (46), Rachel Bolen, North Adams (47), Carrington McGlothin, Peebles (47)
Team Standings after Round One: North Adams 198, Manchester 211, West Union 214, Lynchburg 234, Peebles 242, Eastern Brown 255
