August 4, 2016 at 3:54 p.m.

Stars, Patriots lower scores

Five from SA and three Jay golfers shoot better at invite
Stars, Patriots lower scores
Stars, Patriots lower scores

GENEVA — Improvement.
In the game of golf, it’s about continuing to improve.
The Starfires and Patriots did just that in a 24-hour span.
South Adams High School’s girls golf team shaved 37 strokes off its team total in a day’s time to finish third Wednesday in its own invitational it hosted at Golf Club of the Limberlost.
Jay County, which was third on Tuesday at the Bellmont Invitational, finished fourth Wednesday despite taking 17 strokes off its team total.
Bellmont won the team title with a 338, 31 strokes ahead of runner-up Fort Wayne Canterbury. South Adams totaled 410, and Jay County finished with 415.
“When you’re starting as high as they did (Tuesday), there is a lot of room for improvement,” said SAHS coach Seth Sprunger. “We want those improvements. The biggest single thing is there is not a single person that didn’t improve vastly from yesterday to today.”
Starfire junior Kaiti Gorrell had the biggest improvement, taking 15 strokes off her round from Tuesday to lead South Adams with a 91. She made par a team-high four times, including the par-4 first and 13th holes, and the par-3 12th and 15th holes.
“Really proud of Kaiti,” Sprunger said. Gorrell was seventh overall, with Bellmont’s Morgan Elsworth earning the individual tournament championship with a 6-over par 78.
“There is a different feel for someone that has to play the other team’s best,” Sprunger added. “It’s not easy.
“She has never had to carry it. She didn’t carry it really well yesterday, but boy did she carry it well today. To go to 91 and drop as much as she did is significant.”

But the play of the other four Starfires didn’t go unnoticed either. Senior Amy Schwartz made par twice and took off five strokes to card a 99 for 13th overall. Becca Schwartz, a junior, finished with a 107 — six better than Tuesday — and Selina Jones capped off the team score for South Adams with a 113. Jones birdied the 350-yard, par-4 13th on her way to a 12-stroke improvement from her first varsity tournament on Tuesday.
Alyson Schwartz also competed for the Starfires, and she finished with a 114, 10 strokes better than the previous day.
“Home is obviously much more comfortable, but to drop that many in one day, you’re looking at a little over half a stroke a hole. That’s huge.”
Jay County also had three players improve on their scores from Tuesday, all of which were career bests. Carley Wickey led the team with an even 100, while Kendra Dodd was one stroke behind her. Madison Brown was third on the team with a 108. All three players are seniors, and they broke 50 for nine holes for the first time in their career.
“All of them improved a little bit, in reality to me, on a little tougher course,” Gray said.
Dodd made par on each of the fifth and sixth holes, carding a 47 on the front nine for her best nine-hole score. Brown tallied 48 on the front, and Wickey had a 49.
“That is all you can ask, just keep working at it (and) improving.”
Senior Cassie Reno completed the Patriots’ team score by shooting a 108, a day after setting a new career-best with a 104. Sophomore Sierra Caster made her varsity debut and finished with a 135.
After scoring behind Jay County on Tuesday, Sprunger was happy the Starfires were able to make up ground on the Patriots on Wednesday. Two tournaments into the season, both Jay County and South Adams have gotten a good look at their Allen County Athletic Conference opponents and are aware how each team stacks up against one another.
“We’ll see how things go,” Sprunger said. The Starfires will get another crack at Heritage and Jay County in a three-team meet Monday in Fort Wayne. “We want to repeat as conference champions. Jay County got us by a lot (Tuesday), we got them by five today.
“I’m a lot happier today than I was yesterday.”
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