By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
“I still don’t think it’s really sunk in that I’m going to be playing in the state tournament. My parents and I added it up last night and I had to beat 166 girls to get to this point.”
Those were the words of Manchester senior golfer Taylor Ralston the day after she had conquered the district, winning the Southeast District Division II individual championship and qualifying for her first-ever appearance in the OHSAA State Tournament, the perfect way to cap off an incredible high school career.
Ralston has placed third in the district in her sophomore season and dropped to 11th last year, but was not to be denied in 2023. The Division II girls tourney was held on October 3 at the Chillicothe Jaycees and Ralston fired a 70 for the 18-hole event, making her champion by three strokes over runner-up Paige Weiss of Westfall.
“On the first hole, I started off pretty strong,” Ralston said of her district performance. “I went par-par-par but the fourth hole was rough. I hit one out of bounds, stuck my third shot on the green and then three-putted. After that hole, I was one over and down two strokes. After that, I made back the strokes on seven, then finished even on the back, which we played first. I was really happy we played the back nine first because those are always harder and the girls I was competing with had played the front first. On the back, I birdied holes three and seven and that put me two under.”
“Between holes nine and 10, I checked the leader board and I was in first by one stroke and I knew that I really had a shot at winning. I didn’t check the leader board after that so when I made the putt on 18 a couple of my teammates started clapping and then I got really excited to check the leader board because them being excited probably meant that I won.”
“My parents were super excited,” Ralston continued. “My Dad was giving me about a 25% chance to make it to state and my Mom was just really excited and I almost cried when I checked that leader board because this has been my goal my whole high school career to make it to state. I’m not even sure how to describe how good it feels.”
The Division II Girls State Tournament will be played this coming Friday and Saturday, October 13 and 14, at the OSU Gray Course in Columbus, 18 holes each day in the 36-hole competition.
Ralston may have a slight advantage over some of the other competitors as she has played numerous 36-hole events in her golf travels around the country.
“Playing in some of the tournaments that I have takes a little of the pressure off,” explained Ralston. “You play with girls a lot better but I have to remember that even if some holes go bad you just have to stay focused and stick with it,”
“My goal at state is definitely to place in the top three, maybe top five, but I’d really love to be in the top three. I’m not sure I could even process it if I won the state, I’m still in awe of just winning the district.”
Ralston was not alone representing MHS at the district as the entire Lady Hounds team had qualified and ended up fifth overall. Besides Ralston, the Lady Hounds got district scores from Jenna Campbell (108), Mary Grace Wickerham (114), Lexy Nixon (117) and Raegan Wikoff (129).
Also representing Adams County in the Division II districts were the West Union Lady Dragons, who placed seventh overall in the team standings, led by a score of 98 from sophomore Nina McCann and 101 from sophomore Emmy Stapleton. Senior Korynne Blanton finished her high school career in the district tourney, shooting a 102 for the 18 holes. Also on the Jaycees Course for West Union were freshman Geneva DeMint (121) and junior Kyra Akers (123).
The final competitor from Adams County was playing as an individual qualifier , North Adams sophomore Emmy Holt. Holt ended her second high school campaign with a 50-53-103 total card.