Manley advances to state; Calhoun boys come in 4th
Calhoun senior golf Ella Manley will get the opportunity to be a two-time 5A state champion in the next couple of weeks.
That’s because Manley, for the second year in a row, won the Area 4-5A tournament last week at Fields Ferry, which automatically qualifies for the 5A state tournament May 15-17 in Warner Robbins.
Manley had an excellent round, shooting a 1-under par 71 to finish 15 strokes ahead of the nearest girl as Blessed Trinity had one girl shoot an 86 to finish second and two others secure an 87 to finish in a tie for third place.
Blessed Trinity did win the girls team competition with a 260 score and Midtown came in second with a 325 as they had no one shoot under a 105.
While Manley was the gold medal champ on the girls side, the Calhoun boys, led by head coach Roger Crenshaw, qualified for the upcoming Sectional by placing fourth in the team competition.
Cartersville won the team title with a 293 score and the Purple Hurricanes were 10 strokes ahead of second place Midtown, which finished with a score of 303. Securing those two top places means both of those teams will advance to the state tournament.
After that, Blessed Trinity was third and Calhoun was fourth, meaning those two will head to the Sectional, where a top two finish will put them in the state competition.
BT finished just six strokes behind Midtown, shooting a 309 and Calhoun was just three strokes behind the Titans, closing with a 312 for fourth place.
North Springs was a distant fifth, finishing with a 333.
Calhoun junior Hayden Jackson led the Yellow Jackets, shooting a 3-over par 75, tying him for sixth place with two golfers from Cartersville.
Calhoun sophomore Beau Black was second for the Jackets and ninth in the field, closing with a 76 to finish just one shot behind the team leader.
Senior Ethan Lansford was the third scorer for Calhoun, shooting a 78 and Connor Miles was fourth with an 83 as the team score is determined by the four lowest scores from one school.
Reece Hood and Ryan Hood also competed for the Yellow Jackets.
Cartersville golfer Camden Meadows was the individual gold medalist as the Purple Hurricanes’ top four players all shot a 75 or lower.
Midtown senior Riley Ruby came in second individually, one shot behind Meadows with a 71.
Cartersville’s Anderson McCary and Midtown’s Ross Smith tied for third place in the Area tournament, with
each scoring a 1-over par 73.
Blessed Trinity junior Josh Durthaler shot a 74 to place fifth and lead the Titans.
Jackson then came in in a three-way tie for sixth place with a pair of Cartersville golfers as each had a 75. Andrew Lutjens and Jake Lawson were the duo from Cartersville that also shot a 75.
Black tied for ninth place overall, tying Blessed Trinity junior Cade Meyers with each shooting a final score of 76.
A Midtown golfer rounded out the top 10 by shooting a 77 and Lunsford was next with a 78. He was the only person in the field to shoot that score.