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Western takes fifth at state tournament

WILLIAMSBURG — Coming into the Group AA tournament, everyone was looking to end Blacksburg High’s three year reign as state champions. On Tuesday afternoon, the Bruins’ ownership of the state title officially ended, but not at the hands of last year’s runner-up, Western Albemarle. Though the Warriors were able to impressively post four sub-80 scores on back-to-back days, that wasn’t enough to win as Jamestown High successfully defended their home turf. The Eagles’ cumulative score of 585 was good enough to top Blacksburg by three strokes. Lord Botetourt and Cave Spring each shot 610 for a tie at third place and Western finished two shots back at 612 to take fifth.

“We played well yesterday and I thought we played very well today as well,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “I was actually surprised by the number of quality low scores that some of the other schools put up there. I think today, and I think our kids feel this way too, we’re a little frustrated that we missed third by two strokes. We were that close to really doing something special.”

Warriors senior Patrick Leisure played a solid second round by following his 6-over 78 on Monday with a 2-over 74. Leisure was pleased that he was able to finish his high school golfing career with a strong showing.

“I actually thought I had a pretty good round,” Leisure said. “I had a couple of those things that separate a good round from a great round not quite go my way, a couple of putts here and there, but it was still a solid last round and I’m happy about that.”

Alex O’Dell, Scott Wakely and Brett Engle all shot 7-over 79’s in their second rounds. With his 3-over 75 from the day before, Engle finished only two strokes behind Leisure as the team’s top scorer.

“The first day was really solid,” Engle said. “I had a couple of really close shots within just a few feet (of the pin) so I made a couple of birdies and shot a 75. Today, my chipping was sketchy at times so I wound up with the 79. For me, two rounds in the 70s in the state tournament isn’t too bad.”

Outside of Leisure, the majority of the Warriors will return in 2010, including Engle, O’Dell, Weis, and Wakely. As such, next year shouldn’t be too different.

“For them to see some of the top junior golfers in the state and some of the low scores in the state, I think for those three in particular, that’s the next step in the evolution for them as golfers, to take their game to that level,” Maynard said. “That’s what really helps you in team play is having that one really low score and I think those guys saw that this week. With us only really losing Patrick, the future is still bright.”

Clay O’Connor added to Lord Botetourt’s success by claiming the individual title. O’Connor’s 6-under 138 was two strokes better than first day leader Hannah Pierce of King George.

While the Warriors were the only Jefferson District team to advance from the Region II tournament last week, Charlottesville’s Ben Kayton, Fluvanna County’s Mikey Toy and Monticello’s Evan Childress were all qualified for Williamsburg as individuals. Kayton played consistent in his two rounds, shooting a 6-over 78 to best his 7-over 79 from the day before. Toy was four strokes behind Kayton with rounds of 82 and and 79. Childress was four back from Toy with an 83 and an 82.

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