Regardless of what conditions it has faced or what opponents it has dealt with, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls golf team has remained consistent, steady and difficult to catch.
Yet the Hornets nearly did get caught last Wednesday afternoon, barely getting past Liverpool 176-178 as first place in the SCAC Metro division was at stake.
On the back nine at F-M’s home course of Green Lakes, Liverpool’s Mia and Natalya Avotins shared low individual honors, each shooting 38 to put the Warriors in front.
When Lindsey Toper shot 49 and Hannah Dombroski added a 53, Liverpool had its team total and now F-M had to match it.
Justine Burness led the Hornets with a 42, four shots behind the Avotins sisters, but the Hornets caught up and passed Liverpool with a 44 from Lucy Fowler and 45s from Bailey Wallace and Elly Hulslander. Ally Egnaczyk had a 53 and Ashley Carter a 54.
This was F-M’s third match in as many days. The Hornets handled Baldwinsville 182-216 last Monday at Green Lakes, its sheer depth overcoming the fact that the Bees’ Margaret Dec matched Burness for low nine-hole score of 43.
Wallace posted a 45, while Fowler had a 46. Hulslander and Carter had matching totals of 48 as Alexandra Egnaczyk, with a 53, was five better than the Bees’ second-best round of 58 from Colleen Vredenburg.
Then F-M handled Oswego 188-208 on Tuesday, with Fowler shooting a 45 at Oswego Country Club, just ahead of the 46 from Wallace and the 47 from Burness. Carter added a 50 as Nicole DelConte posted a 47 of her own to lead the Buccaneers.
In boys golf, Manlius-Pebble Hill moved to 3-0 by holding off Pulaski 229-248 at Tecumseh Golf Club. Johnny Gruninger, shooting a 32, was one off his low nine-hole score of the spring as Grant Lewis added a 36, ahead of the 41 by the Blue Devils’ Chris Olson.
Then the Trojans made it four in a row on Wednesday by stopping Cato-Meridian 227-248. Gruninger this time shot a 35 as Lewis added a 37, with the Blue Devils led by Mike Grant’s 41.
A fifth straight win followed on Thursday, MPH routing Fabius-Pompey 215-314, where Tommy Wildhack’s 45 offered support to the 34 shot by Gruninger and the 35 posted by Lewis.
Bishop Grimes got its own win over Bishop Ludden 233-290 last Monday afternoon at Tuscarora. Anthony Falgiatano’s 41 matched that of the Gaelic Knights’ Dan Cacchione, but the Cobras pulled away as Louis Pelose shot 45, while Ben Schultz, with a 48, was just ahead of Connor Alexander (49) and Josh Kuchinski (50).
