St. Anthony had three golfers shoot sub-80 rounds Monday, which helped the Bulldogs capture the Class 1A regional tournament, which they hosted at Effingham Country Club.

Jayden Rios and Jonathan Willenborg both shot 77 and Michael Martelli added a 78, as the Bulldogs finished with 313 total strokes, five ahead of Carmi/White County. Oblong finished third with 355 in the 12-team field. The top three teams will advance to the sectional.

Altamont was ninth with 392 points and Teutopolis 11th at 410.

Thomas Chojnicki shot 81 to complete the St. Anthony team scoring. Also playing was Ryan Schultz (82) and Luke Flaig (90).

“Effingham Country Club was in immaculate shape for this event,” said St. Anthony coach Phil Zaccari. “It is one of the tougher regional courses and Tim Krouse and his staff at the club did a great job preparing the course and running a smooth event.”

Coach Zaccari was pleased with his team’s performance.

“Our underclassmen really stepped up,” he noted. “Freshmen Jonathan Willenborg and Michael Martelli came to play today, and senior Jayden Rios played ‘the shots’ and showed the senior leadership. And sophomore Thomas Chojnicki had a rough front nine, but then really turned it on the back side. Overall, it was a great team win.”

The top 10 individuals, not on one of the qualifying teams, also qualify for the sectional. Among that group was Altamont golfers Tyler Stonecipher (86) and Kevin Hall (89).

The Class 1A Ziegler-Royalton Sectional will be played Monday, Oct. 14, at the Franklin County Country Club in West Frankfort.

“This will be the toughest sectional in the state,” Zaccari said. “There will be at least six teams in our sectional that could place at state, but only three get to go. We will need to have our best to get out of there.”