Having helped the Liverpool girls golf team to a share of CNY Counties League regular-season honors along with a second-place finish in the Section III tournament, sisters Mia and Nataly Avotins had one more tournament left in the spring.
Together, the Avotins went to Long Island’s Bethpage State Park to tackle that complex’s Yellow Course for last weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships. They were joined by Cicero-North Syracuse’s Nessa McKie, who was in her third consecutive state tournament.
Mia Avotins made her lone birdie in Saturday’s opening round on the par-five 6th hole. She scored no worse than a double bogey on any single hole and finished with an 83, putting her in the top half of the standings.
Then, in Sunday’s final round, Mia Avotins improved to a 79, even without a birdie as she played her first seven holes in one over part. The eventual two-day total of 162 left her tied for 18th, the second-beset total among Section III golfers.
Among her sectional teammates, Mia only trailed Auburn’s Lindsay May, whose quest for a fourth straight state title was thwarted despite back-to-back 71s that left her just two shots behind the winner, Section I’s Lauren Peter.
As for Nataly Avotins, a birdie on the final hole held salvage a first-round 90, but like her sister, Nataly played better in the second round, improving seven strokes to an 83 with a pair of birdies on 6 and 14 as she moved up to a tie for 35th place at 173.
McKie would struggle to a 97 in the opening round, but improve to a 92 in the second round with a birdie at the 13th hole to finish at 189.
As for the other five Section III golfers, Madison Kingsley led a trio of Fayetteville-Manlius golfers as she tied for 25th place at 168, ahead of Maggie Bonomo (174) and Bailey Wallace (188), while Mary Colella (Marcellus) finished at 177 and Olivia Evans (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) finished at 178. Section III would finish fourth out of 11 sections in the team competition.
