EHS Girls Golf Team Headed to State for First Time Ever; Other State Qualifiers

The Effingham High School girls golf team has qualified for the State Tournament for the first time in school history.

Jerry Trigg's squad finished third Monday at the Mt. Carmel Sectional to advance. The squad totaled 341 strokes.

Senior Kennedy Collier shot a 79 to lead the way for the Hearts. The other counters were junior Ava Boehm with an 82, senior Morgan Krouse with an 85 and junior Anna Sigg with a 95. Also playing for the Hearts: senior Jaelyn Boone with a 104 and freshman Anna Hirtzel with a 116.

The state tournament is set for this Friday and Saturday at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.

In addition to the Effingham team qualifying for State, three members of the St. Anthony girls golf squad advanced to the weekend competition. St. Anthony's team finished fourth, two strokes behind Effingham.

The three St. Anthony girls headed for State each shot an 84 Monday; junior Macy Ludwig, junior Reagan Westendorf, and freshman Lauren Schwing.

(ST. ANTHONY GIRLS GOLF STATE QUALIFIERS: REAGAN WESTENDORF, LAUREN SCHWING AND MACY LUDWIG)

Just one boy from the area advanced to State Monday, as senior Jayden Rios from St. Anthony shot a 76. Rios will play this weekend at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington. The Bulldogs' Thomas Chojnicki just missed qualifying, making a playoff for the final spot but unable to advance.

The St. Anthony boys had won their regional, but finished with a 325 team total Monday, good for sixth place. The top three teams advance. St. Anthony Coach Phil Zaccari said, "This was by far the toughest sectional in the state. There were six teams at this sectional that would win or get out of every other sectional in the state. As a team, we played pretty well, not our best but we did compete very well. We had another great year winning a regional and gaining a lot of experience for our underclassmen. We say a great thank you to our seniors Luke Flaig, Ryan Schultz and Darin Hutchison and good luck to Jayden Rios as he plays at State this weekend.

Two Effingham High School boys players had advanced to Sectional, but did not qualify for State. Aiden Beck shot an 83, while Tate Niebrugge shot a 92.

Hearts boys coach Jeff Schafer said, "I'm very proud of these two young men as they have been a huge part of our success these past four years. They have played the 1 and 2 sports for at least the last three years and have been our leaders. We are going to miss them next year."

Other area individuals unable to advance from Sectional competition are Averie Bushue of Teutopolis, and Tyler Stonecipher and Kevin Hall of the Altamont co-op team.