Lake Nona three-peats as region champ
Nona saw its streak of four consecutive boys golf district titles end last week when the Lions finished second to Vero Beach in the Class 3A, District 7 tournament.
But in a show of resiliency, and a measure of how deep in talent and balance Central Florida is, the Lions bounced back to win Wednesday’s Region 2 tournament for the third consecutive season.
Lake Nona carded a 3-over-par 291 team total at Orange Lake The Legends to finish ahead of Windermere High (296), Palm Beach Gardens (297) and Vero (301) and secure a berth in the upcoming FHSAA state tournament.
Reinaldo Simoni, a junior, led Nona with a 71 (-1). Sophomore Luke Poulter and senior Austin Cherichella each shot 73 in the victory. Sebastiano Macia Tovar, a sophomore, added a 74. All four of those players experienced the state tournament last year — where the Lions finished sixth in a tournament won by Winter Park.
Dr. Phillips finished fifth in the region at 309. But thanks to strong rounds by sophomore Shawn Lalmoni (68) and junior Brendan Valdes (71), the Panthers did enough to earn an at-large berth.
Olympia’s Jonah Leach shot 69 for second to Lalmoni in individual play and will be joined by Cypress Creek’s Kaleb Palm (71) as individual wild-card qualifiers for state.
The top three teams in each region automatically advance, along with three individuals from teams that did not secure state berths. In addition, four wild-card teams per classification were selected based on scores and the slope and course rating of region tournaments.
Winter Park’s boys shot 299 and were second in the 3A, Region 1 tournament behind Tallahassee Chiles, which is the presumed state favorite after posting a 284 regional score at Golden Ocala. Lake Mary finished fifth at 308 but that was good enough to earn an atlarge bid.
Hagerty’s Aidan Kramer punched his ticket to state with a 70 that was good for second place, and Lyman’s Nick Zarillo also earned an at-large berth.
The First Academy claimed its first boys golf region title. The Royals recorded a 4-under 284 in Class 1A, Region 2 to beat runner-up Windermere Prep (298) and Lake Mary Prep (299). Circle Christian (309) and Lake Highland Prep (310) were fourth and fifth in a stacked region and earned at-large berths.
Aaron Dhu of Lake Mary Prep shot 67 (-5) as the individual medalist. Sampson Zheng and Mohit Balaji of TFA each shot 69, as did Canon Claycomb of Circle Christian.
Bishop Moore’s boys won their fifth consecutive 2A region championship with a 290 (+6) score at Dubsdread. Jacob Hair earned individual-medalist honors for the Hornets with a 70 on the par-71 course.
The two-day state tournaments at Mission Inn are Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 29-30, for Class 3A; FridaySaturday, Nov. 1-2, for 1A; and Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 5-6, for 2A.
Girls golf winners: The First Academy’s team, which is No. 1 in the Sentinel Super Six and FHSAA state rankings, carded a 5-under-par 283 team total to win the 1A, Region 2 title at Timacuan. The Royals had to withstand a challenge from Lake Mary Prep, which finished at 287.
Bridget Ma continued her stellar postseason play with a second-place 69 round for TFA.
Four-time defending state champ Lake Mary shot 290 (+2) at Haile PlanLake tation in the Region 1 tournament in Gainesville to edge Niceville (292) in matchup of two of the 3A state favorites. The Rams were led by sophomore Izzy Pellot, who shot a stellar 66 to claim the individual prize.
Winter Park’s Emily McLatchey shot 69 and Chelsea Nguyen of Hagerty carded a 70 as both qualified individually, as did Emily Staples of Freedom and Emma Hall of Lyman.
Caroline Hwang shot a tournament-low 71 to lead Olympia’s girls to second place in 3A, Region 2 with a 309 team total. Lake Nona (333) will join Lake Mary and Olympia at state as an at-large entry.
The Bishop Moore girls also advanced with a thirdplace region finish. Ainsley Mann shot 72 to take the individual title for the Hornets. Izzy Pelot shot 6-under par 66 to lead three-time defending state champion Lake Mary to the 3A, Region 1 tournament at Haile Plantation in Gainesville. The Rams had to rally to edge Niceville by a 290 to 292 margin.