Hillsboro Lady Indians are Division I sectional champions
Though the Hillsboro Lady Indians had to knock down doors early in the morning to get their equipment before they even got onto the bus, they really knocked down the doors at the Division I SE District Sectional Tournament on Monday.
Their performance on the links in the 18-hole event at the Pickaway Golf Course allowed the Lady Indians to become the first-ever Hillsboro girls golf team to win a Division I sectional championship. The team, consisting of seniors Emily Loudin and Madi Stratton, juniors Kristin Jamieson and Larkyn Parry and freshman Mallory Parsons, combined to card a score of 383 and to make program history.
“The girls felt they all could have played a little better, but 383 is our best 18-hole score of the year, and we are extremely excited to be the first girls golf team at Hillsboro to win a D1 sectional championship,” HHS head coach David Hilliard told The Highland County Press. “What is nice for us is girls golf is gaining enough teams in the Southeast District that we have a Division I sectional just for the Southeast District.
“We’ve always had to go to Columbus and play a lot more teams in the sectional, but it has helped us out with the sectional for Division I to be split up just for our district. It gave the kids a chance for them to come in and know they could compete and be competitive. I like how the sectional is set up now."
The match medalist was Jamieson with a score of 73, winning the event by 15 strokes as she had a score of 35 on the front nine and a 38 on the back nine, being the only player in the sectional to do so.
“Kristin hit the ball with more confidence than I’ve ever seen,” Hilliard said. “Mallory, for a freshman in her first time in the postseason, played well.
“Emily, Madi and Larkyn all played well for us, and I’m proud of them and of the entire team. Madi on the front nine had her best nine-hole score of the season and that was good to see. Like I said earlier, all of the girls would say they could have played better, but this was still our best 18-hole score of the season.”
Loudin placed fourth overall with a score of 95, with the senior scoring a 45 on the front nine and 50 on the back nine, being one of just four players to shoot under 100 for the event.
Hillsboro also took sixth and seventh place in the event with Parsons in sixth place at 106 (51, 55) and Stratton in seventh at 109 (47, 62). In 13th place was Parry at 119 (57, 62) to round out the Lady Indians scoring in the sectional.
This season, the Lady Indians were undefeated in the Frontier Athletic Conference to win the inaugural conference championship, which was a third consecutive conference/league title for the girls golf program with the Lady Indians winning the now-defunct South Central Ohio League championships during the ’15 and ’16 seasons.
“It was a great feeing for the girls to accomplish the sectional title (Monday),” Hilliard said. “At dinner, we had a toast to the best Hillsboro girls golf team ever, but I did tell them since we’ve been gone all day to get caught up on their schoolwork. Everyone contributed, and now we have to get ready for districts."
In second place was Logan at 434 with their leading golfer being junior Lexis Fickel with a score of 88.
The FAC also had a second team earn a trip to the district round in Jackson with the Ironladies placing third overall, scoring a 464. Jackson was led by senior Kyleigh Phillips with a score of 91.
Also in the event were Sheridan in fourth place (467) and Miami Trace with two golfers, not enough for a team score.
Next for the Lady Indians is the Division I District Tournament on Monday, Oct. 9 where it will be the East and Southeast Districts playing at the EagleSticks Golf Club in Zanesville at 8:30 a.m.