By Edwin Sam ’13, Sports Section Editor
Continuing their dominations of the regular season, the Boys’ and Girls’ Golf teams placed second and third respectively in their sectional tournament, both qualifying for the district tournament next week.
Coming off of a second place finish in the MVC championship, the Boys’ team completed a strong sectional showing with a qualifying team score of 355, second only to Summit Country Day’s 350.
Spearheading the efforts of the boys was Ishan Ghildyal ’14. After staying even with par on the front nine, Ghildyal shot the second best score of the tournament with a 76, merely four strokes over par. According to Michael Barton ‘13, Ghildyal “leads the team on the course in terms of scoring and off the course keeping the team practicing and mentally composed.”
Contributing to the team success were seniors Luke Hall ’13, Sam Hall ’13, and Michael Barton ’13 who shot 88, 86, and 85 respectively. Patrick Wildman ’14 rounded out the scoring with a 90, which broke a tie with Seven Hills to give the Indians second place.
Because only two teams from the district can advance to states, the future for the Boys’ team this year appears unpredictable. Summit, Seven Hills, and CCDS can each beat each other, and again in the words of Barton, “We’re all about the same. It depends on one day.”
Preceding the success of the boys was the Girls’ Golf team who qualified for districts for just the second time in school history. Kacie Bradfish ’15, led the girls on the back of a stellar 81-stroke performance on the par 72 Hamilton Elks Course, dropping nine strokes from her sectional score last year.
Falling only to Indian Hill and Taylor, the history making squad pointed to an unprecedented passion for the sport as their main reason for success. Senior captain Avery Maier ’13 noted, “It’s a combination of talent, more dedication, and a desire to really do well. In past years,
a lot of girls have taken girls’ golf as a joke, but we take it very seriously and want to do well.”
The Girls’ team, ranked #1 in the city for most of the season, also highlighted head coach Pat Dunn as another cause of their its accomplishments. Chase Frederick ’14 mentioned, “Mrs. Dunn always follows our matches, trying to watch each player. She notes what we can improve on, and has us focus on those problem areas during practice.”
While Ghildyal and Bradfish lead their respective teams into the post season, a host of other players will be leaned on to place well at districts. Quality coaching, great team chemistry, and individual composure will prove to be the key to success at Districts.
