Patriot girls have season end at sectional

MUNCIE — The Patriots knew they were going to have to have their best rounds for a chance to advance.

Two of them accomplished the goal, but the squad still had its season come to a close.

The Jay County High School girls golf team saw its year end by placing seventh in the IHSAA sectional tournament Saturday at Crestview Golf Course.

“We knew coming in everybody would have to have a personal best to go to regional,” said first-year JCHS coach Trisha Green. “At that point we knew it was more of an individual getting out than the team.

“If they all came out and shot really well — it’s a short course, it’s in great shape — team-wise we could have gotten out but again everyone would have had to shoot their personal best,” Green said.

Delta won the team championship with its score of 346. Muncie Central was the runner-up with 360 and Yorktown was two strokes behind in third place.

Jay County and Wes-Del both shot 412, but Jay County got the edge for seventh place because of the fifth-golfer tiebreaker.

The top three teams and top three individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the regional tournament Saturday at Edgewood Golf Club in Anderson.

Teddi Bishop of Muncie Central was the individual champion, shooting 2-over-par 72. Bella LaPierre of Yorktown shot 81 for second overall, and Belle Brown of Delta had 82 for third.

Blue River Valley’s Maci Chamberlain (85), Wapahani’s VIctoria Hood (85) and Wes-Del’s Lauren Kimble (86) earned the three individual regional qualifying spots.

“I’m disappointed because obviously we all wanted to get out,” Green said. “Not (disappointed) in the way they played, just in the results.”

The Patriots had a bit of a rough start to their round, which began on the back nine. When they made the turn, the team’s best score was senior Erika Heitkamp’s 49. Raquel Wehrly, Abby Huey and Paityn Chapman all shot 54 — each of them made par once, including Huey and Chapman both on No. 15 — and Jacqueline Smith had 57.

As the temperature warmed up throughout the morning, so too did the Patriots’ play. The final nine holes saw three of the Patriots improve their score from the back nine. Huey, who birdied the par-4 seventh hole, also made par on the fourth and ninth holes. She shaved 10 strokes off her score from the back nine, shooting 44 in the second half of her round and finishing with a team-best 98.

Heitkamp made par on the first and fourth holes. She added one stroke to her total from the back nine and ended her round with 99, joining Huey as the only Patriots to finish in double digits.

Playing from the No. 5 spot, Chapman ended the front nine with a 53 and finished with a career-best 107 for the team’s third-best score.

“She did great,” Green said of Chapman. “She stuck with it. She’s getting competitive. She kills her drives. She greatly improved.”

After making par on the eighth hole, Wehrly four-putted her final hole and settled for triple bogey in ending her round with a 108, the last contributing score to the Patriots’ total.

“It was a rough start,” Green said. “It was really cold. The girls came around. They really improved on … their second nine.”

Smith shot a career-best 112, but she did not factor into the team total.

Saturday marked the final round for seniors Wehrly, Huey and Heitkamp. The three most experienced players for the Patriots spent all season as the team’s top three golfers, and Green said she was pleased with how they were able to lead the youngsters on the squad.

“(I’m) sad that this is their last round,” she said. “I was really hoping we’d get a chance at going to regional. I wish I could keep them for three more years but I’m glad I got to coach them for one.”