Allen claims SEK lead after 1st tourney title

Fort Scott senior Jonathan Allen follows through on his second shot on the No. 6 fairway as the ball sails away during the Fort Scott Invitational at Woodland Hills Golf Course Monday afternoon. Allen birdied this hole and finished with a career-low score of 71 as he claimed his first tournament title and first place in the Southeast Kansas League individual race. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Jonathan Allen's first high-school golf tournament title came on his home course and also gave the Fort Scott High senior the lead in the Southeast Kansas League individual standings after he finished with a personal-best 71 in the Fort Scott Invitational Monday afternoon at Woodland Hills Golf Course.

Allen shot 34 on the front nine and 37 on the back, which allowed him to overtake Independence's Logan Taylor for the league lead after the third of four SEK league-designated tournaments. The final one of the four will be held at Chanute on May 12.

"Jonathan had an exceptional round today," Fort Scott head coach Ken Klassen said. "It's as good as I've seen anyone play on this course for some time."

Fort Scott junior Conner Antonetti follows through on the No. 6 fairway durinf the Fort Scott Invitational at Woodland Hills Golf Course Monday afternoon. Antonetti finished fourth with a score of 77. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Allen trailed Taylor by one stroke coming into the day. Taylor finished in sixth place with a 38-41--79 after losing a scorecard playoff to Coffeyville's Logan Vacca (39-40).

Now Allen, the defending league champion, leads Taylor by 7 strokes. Allen has a three-tournament total of 228 while Taylor, who won this tournament last season, fell to 235. Independence's Keenan Nutt was able to remain in third place in the league with a total of 236. Vacca remains fourth at 239.

Three Tigers medaled as Allen was joined by Conner Antonetti in fourth place and Tucker Horn in 10th. However, Independence had four medalists, including Taylor, and won the team title with a four-man score of 313. The Bulldogs have won all three league tourneys and now lead second-place Fort Scott by 55 strokes.

"Independence's performance was incredible," Klassen said. "It was really, really very solid."

Caleb Vowell finished second for Indy with a 38-38--76 and Keenan Nutt was third at 37-40--77, Calvin Hugo finished eighth at 39-42--82.

Antonetti finished fourth with a personal-best total of 77 (39-38), with Nutt winning the scorecard tiebreaker by shooting one stroke better on No. 11.

"Conner had a very good round," Klassen said. "He said that if he had made some putts, his score would have been in the low 70s rather than the upper to mid 70s."

While Antonetti might tell you he wasn't all that pleased with his score, the performance boosted his position in the league standings two places, from seventh to fifth. He finished second in the league to Allen last season.

Horn finished in 10th place, the last medalist position, with a score of 40-45--85. It tied his season best, another 85 at Independence on April 10.

"Tucker was inconsistent, sometimes scoring well, but not sustaining that effort consistently," Klassen said. Still, a score in the mid-80s is decent and I'm hoping he can pull it down to the low 80s by the Regional."

Dane Ramsey was the fourth scorer in the Tigers' team total with his 55-44--99. Clayton Hixon, who was dealing with a lot of discomfort in the leg he injured during soccer season, finished at 57-48--105. Weston Woodring rounds out Fort Scott's results at 65-62--127.

Horn is also 10th in league standings, the same as he was going into the day, 11 strokes ahead of 11th place. The top 10 finishers after all four tournaments earn First Team All-SEK honors while the next 10 (plus any ties) receive Honorable Mention status.

Ramsey fell one spot in the league standings to 17th place, tied with Bryan Walker of Parsons. Hixon, who was 19th place, fell out of the top 20 but only to 21st, which gives him a chance to recover in the final tournament. He trails Pittsburg's John Brooks for 20th by one stroke.

With a 55-stroke lead, Independence has all but clinched its first SEK title since 1993, the second of back-to-back titles. Fort Scott is 15 strokes ahead of third-place Labette County. Pittsburg is in fourth but trails LCHS by 141 strokes.

Allen will attempt to become the first player to win back-to-back SEK individual titles since Chanute's Jeremy Gant in 2008-09. Since the SEK switched to strictly a four-man championship in 1980, just six players have won the individual crown in consecutive seasons.

With the league title all but Indy's, the focus will shift to getting ready for Regionals, which will take place in Independence on May 19.

The Tigers' next outing is a non-league tournament which Labette County will host at Parsons on Tuesday.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Team scores

1. Independence (IN) 313 (Vowell 76, Nutt 77, Taylor 79, Hugo 81), 2. Fort Scott (FS) 332 (Allen 71, Antonetti 77, Horn 85, Ramsey 99), 3. Labette County (LC) 341 (Krewson 81, Dwyer 83, Page 87, Argo 90),

4. Pittsburg 377 (Brooks 92, Austin 93, Commons 93, Smith 99), 5. Chanute 393 (Reaves 89, Gerieke 97, Wolverton 98, Funk 109), 6. Coffeyville (CF) 400 (Vacca 79, Garrison 96, Wright 106, Becker 119).

7. Parsons 404 (Walker 97, Brewer 98, Newland 98, Misener 111)

Medalists

1. Jonathan Allen, FS, 34-37--71; 2. Caleb Vowell, IN, 38-38--76; 3. Keenan Nutt, IN, 37-40--77; 4. Conner Antonetti, FS, 38-38--77; 5 Logan Vacca, CF, 39-40--79;

6. Logan Taylor, IN, 38-41--79; 7. Austin Krewson, LC, 41-40--81; 8. Calvin Hugo, IN, 39-42--81; 9. Drew Dwyer, LC, 39-44--83; 10. Tucker Horn, FS, 40-45--85.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

After three of four tournaments

TEAM

INDIVIDUAL