No one in the regular season got in the way of the Marcellus boys golf team – and no one did in the post-season, either.
The Mustangs’ perfect 12-0 run through the Onondaga High School League was followed Monday by a runaway victory in the Section III West division spring tournament at the Pompey Club in Jamesville.
Driven to do better after a third-place finish in this same event a year ago, Marcellus put together a team total of 411, well clear of the challengers in the large-school portion, and advanced five individuals to the sectional state qualifier later in the week at Seven Oaks in Hamilton.
Two of those Mustangs fought the damp, blustery conditions for the individual title, and Jay Colella won it, posting a five-over-par 77 to beat Carter Austin and McGraw’s Erik Smith by one stroke, both finishing with 78. Solvay star Jon Smolen was alone in fourth place with a 79, two strokes back.
With 15 golfers making it to Seven Oaks, other Marcellus stars had a chance to shine, too, as Tim Sheridan tied Cazenovia’s Cody Thorp for 10th place with an 84, while Frank Szczech was alone in 12th place with an 85 and Tom Fiacchi tied Fabius-Pompey teammates Tyler Gorman and Adrian Villardi for 13th place with 87.
Jay Colella was not the only golfer in his family to have a great week. So did Mary Colella, who through her work in last Tuesday’s girls golf sectional tournament at Kanon Valley in Oneida earned a berth in this weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament at Bethpage State Park on Long Island.
On a Kanon Valley course saturated by early-week rains (requiring golfers to lift, clean and place from fairways to avoid muddy lies), Colella shot steady nine-hole scores of 44 and 45, finishing with an 89 to grab eighth place, just inside the number needed since the top nine finishers advanced.
Colella will join Auburn’s three-time state champion, Lindsay May, whose superb 68 won the individual sectional title by 11 shots. Three golfers from sectional Division I champion Fayetteville-Manlius – Maggie Bonomo, Madison Kingsley and Bailey Wallace – advanced, too, as did Liverpool’s sister tandem of Nataly and Mia Avotins, plus Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Olivia Evans and Cicero-North Syracuse’s Nessa McKie.
Marcellus finished third in Division II with a team score of 429, not far from the top two of Skaneateles (412) and Utica-Notre Dame (414). Elise LaBombard had a 111, the same score as teammate Ashalin Chunco, while Kendall Koloski finished with a 118.
The lone West Genesee golfer in the sectional field, Mikaela Riley, did quite well, as her 98 put her inside the top 20. Westhill had two golfers on hand, too, with Angela Vigliotti shooting a 107 and Ellie Massterpole finishing at 114.
