CENTRAL NEW YORK – A 12-0 record and a regular-season league championship made this spring a special one for the Liverpool girls golf team, regardless of anything else.
But the Warriors wanted perfection, and getting it required winning Tuesday’s Section III Division I championship tournament at Kanon Valley in Oneida.
And Liverpool did get a victory – from senior Mia Avotins in the individual portion. But team glory proved elusive as Fayetteville-Manlius Green claimed the title for the fifth consecutive time.
Just getting in the tournament proved a challenge as a two-plus hour delay for heavy rain meant that the format would change.
Playing nine hole instead of the expected 18, Mia Avotins shot a 37, one over par, matched by F-M Green’s Lucy Fowler. The pair went to a playoff, where on the second extra hole Avotins prevailed.
Meanwhile, Nataly Avotins put up a 42, tying for fifth place, only to see Jewel Daniels shoot a 53 and Ella Foriero get a 55 ahead of Adrianna Shaw’s 57.
Finishing with a team score of 187, Liverpool still had a chance, but F-M Green backed up Fowler’s numbers with a fourth-place 41 from Michaela Papa, a 47 from Alana Isley and a 49 from Madison Krouse to win with 174.
Cicero-North Syracuse tied for sixth with a 208, led by Jessica Ricciardi, who tied Isley with a 47. Isabella Borte had a 50, with Emilee Solak earning a 55 and Natalie Hacker shooting a 56.
A day earlier, at Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course, both of the C-NS golf teams vied for sectional Class AA honors.
Despite a fine regular season where it went 7-1 in the fall and was atop the SCAC Metro division, C-NS Blue could only manage a fourth-place finish here with a 357, trailing victorious Fayetteville-Manlius, who shot 331, along with Baldwinsville (338) and West Genesee (352).
Individually, Sean Lawler had the only top-10 finish, his 87 sharing eight place as F-M’s Velton Perry and Andrew Heyman tied B’ville’s Aidan Farmer led the field, each posting 80.
Otherwise, D.J. Villnave shot an 89, just ahead of Darin Townsend’s 90 and Sam Thompson’s 91, while Mason Ellis posted a 98.
As for C-NS Green, who finished with a team score of 371, Carter Costello had an 88, one behind Lawler, with Jack Wolanski shooting 91, Drew Kippen adding a 94 and Riley Rumble getting a 98.
