It took 21 holes of pure effort for East Syracuse-Minoa girls golfer Brittany Siechen to earn the Section III individual championship.
No playoff was required, though, to determine that, for the second year in a row, Fayetteville-Manlius had the top team entry.
Both titles were earned on a cool, sunny Wednesday afternoon at Green Lakes State Park, where the sectional golf tournament was held again.
Even though the rough was down, scores remained similar to 2007 overall, and the fight for individual honors proved to be tight.
Siechen, the OHSL individual champion, put up an 18-hole score of 83, only to see West Genesee’s Morgan McDermott match that total, as they both finished one shot ahead of F-M’s Ali Wakefield.
In the playoff that followed, Siechen and McDermott matched scores for two holes. But on the third extra hole, Siechen parred — and McDermott could not equal it.
As Siechen savored her hard-fought win, F-M basked in yet another team title. Its total of 373 was 18 shots better than West Genesee (391), with CBA earning 392 for third place overall and the top spot among eight small schools.
To complement Wakefield’s 83, Alex Seabury posted an 89, a struggle by her own high standards, but still good enough to take seventh place and qualify for this weekend’s state championships at Foxfire.
Maria Mintskovsky, who rarely plays 18 holes, stepped up for F-M to shoot a 95 and finish alone in 14th place, while Sara Simons posted a 105 and tied for 35th place to round out the Hornets’ team scoring.
CBA’s Mary Fletcher led her team with a 90, which meant the ninth and final state qualifying spot. Fletcher joins a team that includes Siechen, McDermott, Wakefield, Seabury, Lauren Petty (Baldwinsville), Ariana Gaeta (Whitesboro), Megan Cahill (Auburn) and Melissa Snizek (VVS).
Erin Engstrom, shooting a 92 for the Brothers, missed out on the state berth by just two shots as she tied for 10th place, with Elisabeth Webber shooting a 98.
ESM, fourth among Division I teams with a total of 417, saw Danielel Cafferty earn 12th place alone, shooting a 93. Jamesville-DeWitt was fourth in Division II, with a 433, as Yvonna Jones shot a 96 and teammate Lindsay Sherling added a 100.
