North Adams senior Emmy Holt finished her stellar high school golf career by competing in the Division II district tournament on September 30 at Crown Hill. (Photo by Tim Daulton)
In the Division III boys district golf tournament, senior Elijah Crabtree helped lead the Manchester Greyhounds to a second place finish. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The local high school golf seasons came to a close last week as the local linksters competed in the Division II and Division III district tournaments at Crown Hill and the Portsmouth Elks Country Club. Full boys teams from West Union, Manchester, North Adams and Peebles, the girls team from West Union, plus North Adams’ Emmy Holt and Peebles’ Alyssa Smalley competing as individuals all saw their seasons end at districts.
District play opened on September 29 for the Division III boys at the Portsmouth Elks and with only one team from that district competition advancing to state, there is little room for error over the 18 holes. That coveted state berth came down to a battle between three teams, Manchester, Waterford and Portsmouth West, with Waterford pulling away over the final nine holes to move on to state competition with their low team total of 318. Manchester ended up second at 334 and Portsmouth West third at 335.
For the Greyhounds, senior Elijah Crabtree led the way, shooting a 79 for the day, with classmate Parker Hayslip coming in at 81 in both of their final high school golf matches.
For North Adams, the top round of the day belonged to senior Christopher Hall with an 84, while Peebles was paced by an 87 from sophomore Cooper Meade.
Up next on September 30 was the Division II girls district tournament at Crown Hill where the West Union girls were looking for a return to the state tournament. after making that trip last year for the first time in school history. The Lady Dragons fell short this time, placing fifth overall with their best score coming from sophomore Piper Stapleton, who shot a 92 for the 18 holes. Stapleton and Holt finished just three strokes away from claiming one of the individual state berths while Smalley finished at 104.
Finally, on October 1 the Division II boys district was held at Crown Hill with the West Union Dragons competing as a team and placed eighth overall as fellow member of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference member Lynchburg-Clay advanced to state by winning the district. The Dragons were led on the day by sophomore Samuel Griffis and senior Tegan Knox, both of whom carded 85 for the tourney.
Division III Boys District
Manchester (334): Elijah Crabtree- 79, Parker Hayslip- 81, Brayden Palmer- 85, Joel Blythe- 89, Bryce Young- 90
North Adams (354); Christopher Hall- 84, Carsyn Raines- 89, Caleb Brown- 90, Cash Hupp- 91, Jayden Edmisten- 94
Peebles (368): Cooper Meade- 87, Daniel Clark- 91, Calen Vogler- 95, Gage Bennington- 95, Sterling Chamblin- 123
Division II Boys District
West Union (348): Samuel Griffis- 85, Tegan Knox- 85, Landon McIntosh- 89, Adams Cooper- 89, Alex Dillow- 89
Division II Girls District
West Union (408): Piper Stapleton- 92, Geneva DeMint- 102, Emmy Stapleton- 104, Nina McCann- 110, Raeghan Rothwell- 117
