Photo by Kerry Patrick
Parkersburg Catholic’s Blake Lewis watches his fairway shot during the second round of the W.Va. high school state golf tournament Wednesday in Wheeling, W.Va.
WHEELING, W.Va. — Parker Vannoy gave it a ride. Blake Lewis gave it a ride.
Both golfers fell shy in their quest for individual state titles in their respective divisions but managed to claim All-State recognition during Wednesday’s final round of the W.Va. high school state tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Sr. Course in Wheeling.
Carrying the banner for Parkersburg South for the second straight season, Vannoy upgraded his middle of the pack finish from last year’s appearance as a freshman in Class AAA and placed in a tie for fourth with Wheeling Park’s Campbell Koegler. Vannoy shot rounds of 78 and 80 for a 16-over par 158 two-day total.
Wheeling Park’s Gavin Goodrich shot a round of 2-over 73 on Day 2 and claimed medalist honors by a four-stroke margin after completing the tournament at 7-over 149.
In Class A, Lewis represented Parkersburg Catholic for the fourth straight year and led going into the final round and in position for a possible second individual title. Lewis had his issues on the latter half of his front nine and was tagged with three consecutive double bogeys as he made the turn four strokes behind leader Lucas Riggleman of Petersburg.
Lewis nearly holed out for eagle on No. 13. He finished with a birdie and picked up two strokes on Riggleman to close within three strokes. A rough final three holes took Lewis out of the running for the state title. After waiting for more than hour for the eight all-staters to fall into place, the bubble didn’t burst as Lewis grabbed the final All-State spot while shooting 17-over in the final round and 28-over for the two days.
Wheeling Central Catholic’s Justin Doerr shot 8-over in the final round and 20-over for the tournament to claim medalist honors by three strokes.
“Lucas was definitely going to be setting the bar today,” Lewis said. “Today wasn’t the best of days, obviously. Scores weren’t very good for me, but yes Lucas was someone I was chasing.”
Lewis made par and Riggleman bogey on the par 3 15th hole to minimize the gap to two strokes with three holes to play for the two golfers. Lewis then chunked his drive not more than 50 yards on the following hole. The Crusader senior played his final three holes at 6-over.
“I was right there with Riggleman then on No. 16 I had a bad tee shot,” Lewis said. “Being honest, I don’t think I’ve done that in three months.”
As for St. Marys attempting to become Class A state champions for the fourth straight year, the Blue Devils hit a bump in the road, but secured a second-place effort behind Wheeling Central Catholic. The Blue Devils entered the final round trailing the Maroon Knights by four strokes. Day 2 was not the Blue Devils’ day. Once the entire field of state qualifying golfers had made the turn for their second nine holes, St. Marys fell into third place behind Wahama by 11 strokes.
The lone senior in the St. Marys starting lineup, Brayden Hall, was a member of three state champions and also assisted in capturing the runner–up plaque this year.
“Playing at state is a huge learning experience,” Hall said. “I think we might have added too much stress on ourselves this week. Maybe it was just bad days. It’s golf, things happen.
“The team will learn from this. We have two players this year that had never played at state. That is some nerves right there. Next year (St. Marys) is going to be really good. “
Parkersburg junior Brielle Milhoan joined Vannoy as an individual qualifier in Class AAA. In her first trip to the state tournament, Milhoan turned in a round of 94 and tied for 27th place on the leaderboard.
In the chase for team titles, Keyser produced a three-stroke margin of victory over Winfield in Class AA and Wheeling Park edged runner-up Cabell Midland by 11 strokes for the Class AAA championship.
After the first several Class AAA groups finished their round, Vannoy was the clubhouse leader. The only question left unanswered would be how a trio of golfers who made the turn with scores lower than his through 27 holes would fare in the final foursome. In addition to Goodrich, his challengers were Hurricane’s Savannah Hawkins and Cabell Midland’s Jack Michael. Hawkins played the course at 4-over and finished second, while Michael took third after shooting 6-over for his final round.
The front nine kept Vannoy in the hunt throughout the tournament, first with a 1-under 35 on Tuesday and a 1-over 37 on Wednesday. A possible state title never entered his mind initially. At two strokes behind leaders on the back, those thoughts started to emerge.
“I thought if I had two decent days there would be a good chance I could make all-state,” Vannoy said. “I didn’t think there was a chance to win it this year. Placing fourth just shows there is still room for improvement. Compared to last season, it’s a lot better feeling this year. Credit goes to my dad (assistant coach Matt Vannoy) and head coach John Badgley.”
Vannoy suffered three straight bogeys before concluding his round with a par.
“I had a couple of rough holes on the back and told myself to keep it together and finish strong,” Vannoy said.
Similar to Vannoy experiencing the waiting game for the top golfers to complete their round, Lewis also went through that ordeal seeing himself on the bubble for all-state selection. At one point, he was 12th on the leaderboard. As the Class A contingent began to make their way in, his chances continued to increase.
“Coming up here and getting all-state three out of four years is pretty special,” said Lewis, who won an individual state title as a sophomore. “Not a lot of people can say that. Wish I could have come out with a win. I’m happy to see Justin (Doerr) win. He has been here all four years just like me. He played really well our sophomore year and fell short. Fell short the next year. Happy to see him win this year . I’m proud of him.”
In St. Marys’ situation, all four golfers were on the cusp of making their way into all-state recognition.Trent Renner (16th, 87), Preston Lawhon (T14th, 89), Cole Darnold (11th, 88) and Hall (T14th, 92) all placed among the top 17 individual scores.
“Especially after the first day, the guys were very disappointed because they know how well they can play and they didn’t meet their expectations,” St. Marys coach Catie Hamilton said. “They came in today wanting to do better. We fell a little short of our goal, but they know what they have to improve on.
“What we have done the past four years says a lot for our program and the hard work these kids have put in over the years. I don’t have any doubt they will continue to work. They want to be back here again.”
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here