Golf

Jayden Rios will represent the St. Anthony Bulldogs at the Class 1A State Golf Tournament this weekend.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs team didn’t qualify after finishing sixth in the West Frankfurt Sectional, played at the Franklin County Country Club.

Carmi (White County) was the sectional champion with a 301 team score. Also qualifying was Belleville Althoff (304) and Breese Mater Dei (309). The Bulldogs finished with a 325 score.

“This was, by far, the toughest sectional in the state,” said St. Anthony coach Phil Zaccari. “There were six teams at this sectional that would win or get out of every other sectional in the state. As a team, we played well. It wasn’t our best, but we did compete very well.”

Rios shot a 76 to pace the Bulldogs. He finished among the top 10 golfers, not on one of the top three teams, to qualify for the state tournament. Thomas Chojnicki finished with a 78, Ryan Schultz 85 and Luke Flaig 86 to complete the team scoring. Also playing was Michael Martelli (86) and Jonathan Willenborg (87).

“We had another great year, winning a regional and gaining a lot of experience for our underclassmen,” Zaccari said. “We say a great thank you to our seniors – Luke Flaig, Ryan Schultz and Darin Hutchison – and then good luck to senior Jayden Rios as he plays at state this weekend.”

The state tournament will be played Friday and Saturday at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington.

Macy Ludwig turned in the low round of the day, helping the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs captured their own Class 1A Regional championship.

Ludwig shot a 76 to claim medalist honors Thursday afternoon at Effingham Country Club.

That helped the Lady Bulldogs to a team total of 331 strokes, seven better than runner-up Mt. Carmel’s 338. Effingham finished third at 348.

The top three teams qualified for the Mt. Carmel Sectional, which will be played Monday at the West Berwick Golf Course in Mt. Carmel.

Also qualifying was Averie Bushue from Teutopolis. The top 10 scores -- not from one of the three qualifying teams -- also advances to the sectional. Bushue shot an impressive 79 to finish third overall individually, trailing only Ludwig and Mt. Carmel’s Madelyn Young, who fired a 77.

For the Lady Bulldogs, Ellie Wegman and Reagan Westendorf both shot 83 and Lauren Schwing 89 to complete the St. Anthony scoring. Also playing was Morgan Schuette (92) and Nina Hakman (92).

Ava Boehm led Effingham with an 18-hole round of 82. Morgan Krouse shot 84, Kennedy Collier 86 and Anna Sigg 96 to complete the scoring. Jaelyn Boone (107) and Anna Hirtzel (122) also competed.

Teutopolis finished seventh in the 11-team field with a team total of 465. In addition to Bushue, Maggie Koester finished with a 188, Alaina Helmink 130 and Abigail Wortman 138 to complete the team scoring. Mollie Koester (140) also played.

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.”

St. Anthony traveled to Centralia Tuesday and easily won a quadrangular girls golf match.

The Lady Bulldogs had a 162 total, 40 strokes better than runner-up Hamilton County’s 202. Centralia was third at 222 and Carterville had 223.

Lauren Schwing turned in St. Anthony’s low round with a 39. Morgan Schuette, Macy Ludwig and Reagan Westendorf each finished with 41. Also playing was Ellie Wegman (42) and Cara Hakman (47).

The Lady Bulldogs will return to action Thursday, hosting the Class 1A Regional at Effingham Country Club.

The St. Anthony and Effingham boys golf teams participated Saturday in the Taylorville Invitational.

The Bulldogs tied for third with 347 points, while the Hearts finished sixth with 349. Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin won the 12-team event with 321 total strokes.

For St. Anthony, Jonathan Willenborg shot an 83 and finished 10th overall. Jayden Rios and Thomas Chojnicki both shot 87 and Michael Martelli 90 to complete the team scoring. Also playing was Darin Hutchison (99) and Aidan Tegeler (99).

Tate Niebrugge fired an 81 to tie for fourth individually and pace Effingham. Ryker Schneider shot 87, Aiden Beck 89 and Ben Donsbach 92 to complete the EHS scoring. Also competing was Austin Waldhoff (93) and Nick Burgess (93).

Both schools will compete in regional tournaments today (Monday). The Bulldogs will host a Class A regional at Effingham Country Club, while Effingham will participate in a Class 2A regional at the Mattoon Country Club.