Avon girls wins sectional golf tournament; Avon Lake advances, too

AVON LAKE — Avon junior Bua Wattanauanichakorn dominated play at the Northeast Division I sectional tournament at Sweetbriar Golf Course, shooting 76 to finish five strokes clear of the field. The Eagles claimed the team title as well while Avon Lake joined them in advancing to the Division I district tournament to be held Tuesday at Ellsworth Meadows in Hudson. Avon shot a 344 as a team to claim the sectional crown. Olmsted Falls finished second at 352, Magnificat third at 359 and Avon Lake fourth at 373. The top four teams advance to Ellsworth Meadows with the top four individuals not on qualifying teams. Molly DuPerow (Strongsville), Aya Vicens (Amherst), Cleo Meldrum (Medina) and Madison Perdue (Brunswick) were the individual qualifiers. Senior Amanda Holtzman carded an 88, sophomore Ainsley Gilchrist a 90 and junior Kavita Nanda a 101 for Avon. "I'm really excited for this team," Eagles coach Kaitlin Neumann said. "Amanda shot her low score and Ainsley played really well today. We improved from the conference tournament, which was also here last week, and I'm glad to see we're moving in that direction." Wattanauanchakorn was satisfied with her round, but thought she left some shots out there. "Today I did pretty good, but I think I could do better than this with more practice," she said. "That's fine because it's something I can control. "I'm so excited. I didn't expect to go far like this. I'm so glad I have been able to help my team advance." After graduating five seniors from last season's district qualifier, Avon Lake coach Kristyn Frisch was excited her team of juniors Lauren Hawkinson (91), Maggie Masterson (92), Keely McGinty (94), sophomore Sydney Roig (96) and freshman Abby Madden (103) were able to claim the last team slot to the district tournament. "I'm really pleased with how we played," Frisch said. "I was hoping they'd shoot what they shot in our conference tournament, and we actually improved by three strokes. They really tried to grind it out. We had a rough start, but they stuck with it and tried to post the best score they could." Vicens didn't expect to make it through the sectional tournament. She is looking forward to playing next week. "I'm surprised," Vicens said. "I came in thinking, because I'm a senior, that this was my last match. I just wanted to enjoy it and have fun and to stay in the moment. I came in off the ninth hole and saw I shot a 94. I was very pleased because that's my best score in the three years I've played here. "I'm going to practice. I'm going to work on the chipping and the putting, but I also think I'm just going to enjoy it. It's my senior year … why not?" Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Team standings (top four advance to district tournament): 1. Avon 344 (Bua Wattanauanichakorn 76, Aubrie Rush 90, Amanda Holtzman 88, Ainsley Gillcrist 90, Kavita Nanda 101); 2. Olmsted Falls 352 (Samantha Torres 86, Alyson Veverka 86, Kayla Kippes 81, Rebecca Abbott 99, Sydney Ott 102); 3. Magnificat 359 (Ellen O'Leary 85, Anna Schramko 89, Shia Vargo 92, Claire Harvey 98, Claire Schramko 93); 4. Avon Lake 373 (Lauren Hawkinson 91, Maggie Masterson 92, Keely McGinty 94, Abby Madden 103, Sydney Roig 96); 5. Strongsville 386; 6. Medina 389; 7. Steele 400; 8. Brunswick 419; 9. Berea-Midpark 428; 10. Westlake 430; 11. St. Joseph Academy 435; 12. Midview 443; 13. No. Olmsted 449; 14. No. Ridgeville 462; 15. Bay 492; 16. Buckeye 0; 17. John Hay 0; 18. Lakewood 0; 19. Max Hayes 0; 20. Rocky River 0. Individual Scores: * Indicates qualifying individual. 1. Bua Wattanauanichakorn (Avon) 76; 2. Kayla Kippes( Olmsted Falls) 81; 3. Ellen O'Leary (Magnificat) 85; 4. Samantha Torres (Olmsted Falls) 86, Alyson Veverka (Olmsted Falls) 86; 6. Amanda Holtzman (Avon) 88; 7. Anna Schramko (Magnificat) 89, Molly DuPerow* (Strongsville) 89; 9. Aubrie Rush (Avon) 90, Ainsley Gillcrist (Avon) 90; 11. Lauren Hawkinson (Avon Lake) 91; 12. Maggie Masterson (Avon Lake) 92, Shia Vargo (Magnificat) 92; 14. Claire Schramko (Magnificat) 93; 15. Keely McGinty (Avon Lake) 94, Madison Perdue* (Brunswick) 94, Cleo Meldrum* (Medina) 94, Ayalis Vicens* (Amherst Steele) 94; 19. Erin Frey (Medina) 95, Rosalyn Friend (Amherst Steele) 95, Alexa Prexta (Westlake) 95; 22. Sydney Roig (Avon Lake) 96; 23. Claire Harvey (Magnificat) 98, Hayley Johnson (Medina) 98, Katie Kane (St. Joseph Academy) 98, Grace DuPerow (Strongsville) 98; 27. Morgan Briley (Brunswick) 99, Rebecca Abbott (Olmsted Falls) 99, Ciara Grieve (Rocky River) 99, Veronica Palmer (Strongsville) 99; 31. Alyssa Kell (No. Olmsted) 100, Maddy Yuhasz (St. Joseph Academy) 100, Reagan Bass (Strongsville) 100; 34. Kavita Nanda (Avon) 101, Maizy Ereditario (Bay) 101, Heather Gerome (No. Ridgeville) 101, Addisyn Spakes (Steele) 101, Caitlin Rupp (Strongsville) 101; 39. Aubrey Cavey (Medina) 102, Katie Weaver (Midview) 102, Sydney Ott (Olmsted Falls) 102, Kayla Shuemann (Westlake) 102; 43. Abby Madden (Avon Lake) 103, Samantha Parker (Berea-Midpark) 103, Alaina Borra (Medina) 103; 46. Mackenzie Haneberg (Berea-Midpark) 104; 47. Rachel Adams (No. Olmsted) 105, Rachel Baird (Rocky River) 105; 49. Ella Powell (Berea-Midpark) 106, Aryana Edgell (No. Ridgeville) 106, Lexi Aguilar (Rocky River) 106; 52. Natalie Ellis (No. Olmsted) 108; 53. Olivia Birth (Midview) 110, CeCe Iliff (Amherst Steele) 110; 55. Erin McCaffrey(Midview) 111; 56. Delaina Jones(Brunswick) 112, Sydney Heckeler (Lakewood) 112; 58. Bailey Votaw (Westlake) 113; 59. Paige Toth (Brunswick) 114; 60. Halle Parks (Bay) 115, Kailee Carlson (Berea-Midpark) 115, Mattie Krankowski (St. Joseph Academy) 115; 63. Kaitlyn Carlson (Berea-Midpark) 116; 64. Kamyrn Lienerth (No. Ridgeville) 118; 65. Callah Bradley (Midview) 120, Sydney Schons (Westlake) 120; 67. Emily Jones (St. Joseph Academy) 122; 68. Maddie Harden (St. Joseph Academy) 123; 69. Lilly Porta (Buckeye) 125; 70. Emily Gorman (John Hay) 127; 71. Alexa Gatesman (Brunswick) 129, Brooklyn Macklin (John Hay) 129; 73. Lauren McCarty (Bay) 134; 74. Layla Ruben (No. Olmsted) 136; 75. A.J. Jacovetti (No. Ridgeville) 137; 76. Cara Caldwell (No. Ridgeville) 139; 77. Delaney Slavin (Bay) 142; 78. Margot Giese (Bay) 150; 79. Olivia Williams (Max Hayes) 157; 80. Kate McKeown (Rocky River) DNF, Julia Cuellar (Westlake) DNF;