C.C.H.S Golf: Lady Red Finish Third At Region
Ball, Clevenger advance to state
By SETH BUTLER
Newport Plain Talk Sports Writer
BRISTOL-Cocke County High School’s Lady Red golf team helped contribute to a District 2 domination at Monday’s Region 1-AAA tournament at the Country Club of Bristol.
The Lady Red, who finished with a team score of 162, finished third in the event. Jefferson County, powered by a two over par round of 73 by Kendall Martindale, won the event with a score of 148. Greeneville finished second in the event, six strokes behind the Lady Patriots.
Despite their third place finish, Lady Red golfers Whitney Ball and Lexi Clevenger will represent the team as individuals at the state tournament October 7-8 in Murfreesboro.
Clevenger’s berth in the event marks the second consecutive year the sophomore has qualified for the state tournament.
The Cocke County duo will join the Jefferson County team and Lady Greene Devil golfers Katy Hutcherson and Ashley Morris, who recorded the third and fourth lowest scores of the day.
Cocke County coach Blake Briggs was elated at the performance of the girls team, given the tough competition they received from their District 2-AAA counterparts.
“That’s the best they have played this season,” Briggs said. “It’s hard to deal with Jefferson County with Kendall Martindale, an All-American type player, and Greeneville shooting what they did.
“We played as well as we could,” Briggs said. “I’ll take that 162, that’s pretty good for us.”
Clevenger led the Lady Red with an eight-over par round of 79. Ball, the team’s lone senior, countered with a round of 83. Both Lady Red team members fared well on the course’s par-35 back nine.
Although team member Victoria Barrett did not qualify for the state tournament, she shot an 86, one of her finest performances of the 2008 season.
The performance of the trio helped establish District 2 firmly over the performance of the three District 1 teams. Third-place Cocke County topped fourth place Science Hill by 20 strokes. Dobyns-Bennett finished fifth with a score of 221 and Sullivan Central shot a 294, with individual scores of 111 by Brittany Rogers and a round of 183 by Lilly Davis.
Briggs was excited for his current team members who qualified for the state tournament, but also mindful that he has high hopes and expectations for the team next season.
“I’m glad Whitney gets to go as a senior and Lexi gets to go back. I expect to be here next year,” Briggs said. “We lose Whitney but gain Chasity Gibson.”
Shrug it off! Cocke County readies for District
By PAUL MEADOR
NPT Sports Editor
MORRISTOWN-Golf is a sport that can drive you nuts! One day, you’re sinking putts right and left. Next day, you can’t even find the green. The Cocke County golf squad has been steady through the regular season. So steady, in fact, that the Big Red won the regular season championship outright, and the Lady Red tied Jefferson County for the regular season championship. So, expectations were high going into post season play, beginning this past Thursday with the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament at Millstone in Morristown.
“Although the same teams will compete at the District Tournament,” explained Cocke County head coach Blake Briggs, “the IMAC Tournament is pretty much a tune-up for the District. We’re competing against the same teams, and setting our top five boys and top two girls for the District. It’s what you do in the District, and hopefully, Regional, that is important. But, the conference tourney holds an importance of its own. You would really like to have that conference tournament championship.”
But, that was not to be on Thursday, as both the Big Red and Lady Red struggled. “We simply didn’t play well today,” said coach Briggs. “You have those days (in golf), and today was not our day. But, we got the experience of post-season play, the feelings, the pressure. It was there, and hopefully, we can carry our experience over to a more successful District Tournament.”
The Big Red still finished second overall, but 12 strokes behind first place Jefferson County. The Lady Red finished third, nine strokes behind second place Greeneville, and 19 strokes behind first place Jefferson County.
On the ladies side, senior Whitney Ball led the Lady Red with an 84, followed by Victoria Barrett on 86 and Lexi Clevenger on 89.
On the boys side, senior Trevor Marshall led the Big Red with a 73, followed by Luke Ottinger on 75, Jacob Quinton on 78, Chase Atkins and Zach Briggs both on 79 and Jake Shelton on 84.
The performance was particularly troubling for the senior, Shelton. “We’ve got to do better as a team,” said Shelton, “but I’m really disappointed with my performance. I didn’t help anything at all. I just didn’t play well today, and I don’t know why. It just couldn’t do anything right today.” For Marshall, things were better.
“The course was tough,” explained Marshall. “It was really slick, but not bad. I hit some good shots, had a good day. I just want to carry that over to the District on Monday.”
Marshall not only led the Big Red, he also finished tied for fourth overall, which earned him All-Conference honors.
In the past, the IMAC and District tournaments were held on the same course. But, not this year. Millstone will now be undergoing annual maintenance, so the District Tournament has been moved to Clinchview in Bean Station.
“It’s a pretty easy course,” said Marshall. “I’m kind of surprised they are playing the District there. But, it’s a good course, I’ve played pretty well there.”
“It’s kind of easy,” said Shelton. “I’m kind of surprised, too, that the District is being held there. But, it really doesn’t matter. You still have to play your game. I’ve got to do well there, we all have to do well as a team. I really want to win the District.”
And, that’s what it is all about. The top teams qualify for the Regional, which will be held a week from Monday in the Tri-Cities. You can also qualify by being one of the top individual golfers. The ultimate goal, of course, is the State Tournament.
First, however, is taking care of business in the District Tournament, which is slated for Monday, September 22, at Clinchview in Bean Station, with the first group of golfers teeing off at 9 a.m.
Here are the finals results from the IMAC Tournament, with the top two golfers figuring the girl’s team score, and the top five golfers figuring the boy’s team score.
IMAC GIRLS
Jefferson County, 152 Kendall Martindale 69, Alexa Payne 83, Lauren Hodge 86
Greeneville, 161 Katy Hutcherson 77, Ashley Morris 84
Cocke County, 170 Whitney Ball 84, Lexi Clevenger 89, Victoria Barrett 86
Morristown East, 185 Kaitlyn Harville 85, Erica Bruce 100, Lindsey Ford 100
Morristown West, 197 Alex Dickinson 93, Chelsea Leonard 104, Kim Hayes 105
IMAC BOYS
Jefferson County, 293 Jordan Jennings 71, Logan Hance 76, Billy Buie 73, Drew Jenkins 74, Ondes Webster 82, Nathan Hodge 75
Cocke County, 305 Jake Shelton 84, Zach Briggs 79, Luke Ottinger 75, Trevor Marshall 73 Chase Atkins 79, Jacob Quinton 78
Morristown West, 309 Kyle Grigsby 74, Joshua Henrichs 72, Anthony Damico 83, Blake Napier 85, Adam Long 88, Jonathan Walker 80
Morristown East, 313 Alex Conway 67, Dustin Williams 83, Jacob Long 81, Spencer Cope 82, Thomas Siler 94, Lance Kenney 89
Greeneville 327 Dakota Norton 79, Seth Saylor 90, Tyler Justice 85, Braeden Johnson 76, Elliott Taliaferro 87, Conner Landers 90
Cherokee, 365 Jordan Hood 81, Lucas Singleton 88, Andrew Long 99, Hunter Gladson 97, Keegan Pearson 113
INDIVIDUAL GIRLS (All-Conference)
1st-Kendall Martindale (Jefferson County),
2nd-Katy Hutcherson (Greeneville),
3rd-Alexa Payne (Jefferson County)
INDIVIDUAL BOYS (All-Conference)
1st-Alex Conway (Morristown East),
2nd-Jordan Jennings (Jefferson County),
3rd- Joshua Henrichs (Morristown West),
T-4th-Trevor Marshall (Cocke County),
T-4th-Billy Buie (Jefferson County),
T-6th-Drew Jenkins (Jefferson County),
T-6th-Kyle Grigsby (Morristown West)
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