LCHS takes SEK team crown; Pool top individual

PITTSBURG -- Coffeyville's Anna Pool became the first player to win the Southeast Kansas League girls' golf championship twice as she led the field with a 74 in the fifth and final league designated tournament here Tuesday.

Pool shot 39 on the front nine and 35 on the back. She never shot worse than 44 on any nine-hole split during league play and finished with a total of 239 in defense of her league title, 24 strokes ahead of Labette County's Erica Gartner, who shot 44-46-90 to finish third among SEK golfers and fifth overall in the tournament. Chanute's Abbe Funk finished third in SEK play, four strokes behind Gardner with a total of 267. She shot 43-44--87 Tuesday to finish second among league golfers and third overall.

Defending Class 4A State champion Timbrelee McNair of Girard was second in the tourney behind Pool with her 37-42--79.

LCHS won the team title, its first, guided by coach Ashley Spencer, who is the stepdaughter of Fort Scott head coach Karen Curran. LCHS finished with a 395 to finish best among SEK teams in the tournament and finish league play 59 strokes ahead of Pittsburg and 161 up on Fort Scott with a total of 1237. None of the other SEK teams were eligible for the title because they were unable to field full teams in all five tournaments.

Nevada won the team title in the tournament with a score of 376, just two ahead of Caney Valley. Girard was third at 387. Fort Scott finished seventh at 473.

"Once again, the girls feel good about the majority of the shots they are making, but the scores just don't reflect it," Fort Scott head coach Karen Curran said. "Consistency has been the biggest battle that they have all struggled with this season. We've got less than two weeks to the Regional Tournament to continue to work on some scoring strategies, so that is exactly where our focus will be."

The Tigers were playing 18 holes for just the second time this season. Their team total was 19 strokes better than the first one at Girard on Sept. 12.

Morgan Robertson had the best score for the Tigers with a 57-53--110, tying for 27th. Katie Brown followed at 63-53--116, then Camrien Defebaugh at 66-57--123 and Hayden Shelden with 64-60--124 to round out the four-woman team score. Emily Martin (64-63) and Maggie McDonald (67-60) both shot 127 for the Tigers.

"Hayden and Morgan and Katie dropped their 18-hole score considerably from the Girard tournament, so that's a positive step in the right direction," Curran said. "Camiren drove the ball really well at times and has the ability to hit good iron shots. Emily and Maggie are working hard to regain their early-season confidence. They can drive the ball well. They can hit good iron shots to the green. And they can both chip and putt pretty good. Putting it all together on every hole is the issue -- for every golfer everywhere."

Robertson finished ninth in the final SEK standings with a total of 329, which gives her All-SEK First Team status. McDonald tied for 17th in the final standings with 366, Sheldon was 19th at 370 and Martin finished 20th with her 375. Brown and Defebaugh did not play in all five tournaments.

The Tigers will play in their final regular-season tournament Monday at Anderson County. The 18-hole tourney is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The Regional Tournament will be held at Chanute on Oct. 14.