For a few brief moments, members of the Cicero-North Syracuse Blue boys golf team carried the notion that it could go all the way to the top and earn the Section III Class AA championship.
But while that dream fell just short, the Northstars, along with the Liverpool Warriors, saw several standout performances in Wednesday’s sectional tournament at the Links at Sunset Ridge.
When the team scores were added up, C-NS Blue had a total of 416, just two shots behind runner-up Auburn’s total of 414, while Liverpool finished at 458 and C-NS’s Green team got 469. Fayetteville-Manlius, with a 406, repeated its sectional team title from 2013.
All of the 134 golfers gathered at Sunset Ridge were attempting to finish among the top 34 and ties in order to advance to the sectional state qualifier, set for late May at Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course.
They had to make the attempt amid the season’s most difficult playing conditions. Gone was the sunshine and warm temperatures, replaced by a chill in the air and, more importantly, a wind that gusted past 25 miles per hour for most of the round. It even rained early in the afternoon.
No one in the field broke Sunset Ridge’s par of 72, though CBA’s Jack Bellardini came close, earning four birdies and five bogeys on his way to a one-over-par 73 to win the individual medalist honors by four strokes over F-M’s Andrew Massa and Auburn’s Trevor Hogan.
C-NS Blue got its best round from Pat O’Donnell, whose seven-over-par 79 put him in a tie for fifth place with two F-M golfers, Steve Cachio and Ryan Keller, plus West Genesee’s Sean Stanistreet and Oswego’s Alec Kunzwiler.
Then, the group that tied for 10th place at 80 included another Northstars golfer, Jon Petrin. Logan Field advanced to the state qualifier by posting an 84, while Brad Hamilton and Eddie Szopinski both earned rounds of 85, which helped them finish right on the number of the cut line, tied for 33rd place.
Liverpool, though further down the team standings, also saw two of its golfers advance. They were Dan Mort and Jullian LaTocha, who both shot equal rounds of 85 amid the winds to match Hamilton at the qualifying cut.
Brad Schilling, with an 87, missed that cut by just two shots, matching C-NS Blue’s John Meyers on that score, while Paul Haberek managed an 89.
Also for C-NS, Nick Messerschmidt earned a 91, Andrew Jackson managed a 93, Eric Cummings shot a 94 and Nick Ernestine finished with a 97, while Dan Harbaugh shot a 98. Liverpool saw Kenneth Krafft shoot a 98, John Massucci shoot a 103 and Matt Hunter finish with a 104.
