BY MILLIE LANGE

Effingham St. Anthony, Effingham and Teutopolis will be well represented at the boys and girls State Golf Meets Friday and Saturday.

St. Anthony will compete in the Class 2A State Boys Tournament at Weibring Golf Club in Normal while the girls will head to the State Touranment at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.

Teutopolis will be sending a boys team to the Class 1A State Tournament at Vista Golf Course in Bloomington while two girls will represent the Wooden Shoes at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.

The coaches talked about their teams:

St. Anthony Boys Coach Phil Zaccari —

“Maddux Clark, a senior, has been a steady consistent scorer for our team. He is very deliberate in his play, stays out of trouble. As a senior, his leadership and experience has been key to our success.

:Alec Hakman, a senior, has been another steady scorer, his experience and leadership has been a great example for our underclassmen

“Drake Brown, a senior, is probably our most athletic golfer. His athleticism puts him into positions where he has the potential to go real low on any given day.

“Briggs Whitley, a junior, is in his first year with our golf program. He has the potential to play around par and is done so we are trying to get him more consistent.

“Jameson McAllaster, a sophomore, plays the game as it should be played. He keeps out of trouble plays one shot at a time. He averaged around 76 for the year and us been a consistent scorer for us.

“Logan Gowin’s game is far beyond his age. Logan, a freshman, averaged under par this season and he hits the ball surprisingly far for his size. He has scored in every event we played this year. He has been dependable and creative. Very rarely will his score be above par.

“James Trupiano and Liam McAllaster are both freshmen. James and Liam have seen a little varsity time this year and also averaged under 80 as freshmen. They will be our alternates at state should something unfortunate happen.

“This will be our first venture into the world of 2A golf. Winning the regional and sectional has put us in a great position to compete with the best teams in the state. Class 2A is probably the deepest classification this season. There are eight or nine teams that can legitimately take a trophy home this year.

“We are going into this state finals tournament with a very positive attitude and plan to play to our potential. From past experience we know anything can happen at State and we want to put ourselves in a position to capitalize on opportunities. We are focused on playing smart, having fun, and then let the chips fall where they may.”

St. Anthony Girls Coach Darin Wargo —

“Brooklyn Phillips, a junior, is very centered and keeps her cool really well. She’s a confident leader.

“Gianna Frisbie, a junior, is very kind and empathetic, always willing to help and listen. She sets an excellent example for the other girls of how to work hard and keep at it. She can always chit the heck out the ball very far. she was the sixth place medalist at Sectionals with a 77.

“Tesa Ludwig, a sophomore, tends to be quiet but very knowledgeable. She is an excellent chipper with good control and spin. High potential for fantastic scores.

“Adria Moberly, a sophomore, is very tenacious. She never gives up, never surrenders and is a natural teacher. If she sees something another girl is struggling with, she always has a helpful tip. Also a great putter and has really been playing excellent when it matters most. She was one stroke away from medaling at regionals with a 78 and had an 80 at sectionals.

“Lucy Bierman, a sophomore, is super sweet, very cheerful, difficult to be sad or angry with her around. She’s a very hard worker and has a great drive and seems to almost always be in the fairway.

“Tenley Sams, a freshman, is quite funny and sassy. Kind of the class clown but doesnt take it too far and still works hard. Most improved would likely go to her. She started the year shooting a 114 and shot a 90 at sectionals.

“Lauren Myers, a sophomore is undoubtedly one of the kindest young ladies I’ve met. Very attentive and a pleasure to coach.

“Liza Kuhns, a freshman, is very outgoing but laid back. Great effort. Quite funny like Tenley which makes sense because they are best friends.”

Effingham Boys Coach Jeff Schafer —

“Jack has played great for us all year. He is so consistent. He had a couple rounds earlier this year where he started out bad and both times he got it back to even par or 1 over. He has that mind set where it almost inspires him.

“He has been a leader for us which is hard when it’s his first year with our program. He expects and I expect him to play well. I am hoping for a top ten finish. He is a great competitor and he is battle tested. Looking forward to seeing him have a great weekend.”

Teutopolis Boys Coach Mike Wilson —

“Our team’s success has been two-fold this year. Coen Pennington stepped up and has played like one of the best players in the state regardless of Class. numbers. Two through six have also stepped up this year.

“We can count on a very good score from Coen and Isaac Weber but 3-6 have played awfully well. There always seems to be at least two of them posting a strong round. Lane Ohnesorge, a junior, will play on Saturday if we make the cut. Lane has played pretty well since the middle of the season and we now will need him to step up and play well on Saturday.

“Landyn Thoele, a senior, will play for us on Friday. He is splitting the tournament with Lane. LT is our unofficial captain. He broke his foot near the end of school and was not released to play until right before the season began. But he has worked hard and played well. Matthew Habing, a junior, plays in the five spot. He has the prettiest swing on the team and has unlimited potential. Matthew is capable of being very long off the tee and good with his short irons. When Matthew plays with confidence, he shoots in the low- to mid-70’s.

“Owen Kremer, a junior, plays in the four position. Owen has really worked on his game this summer. He has been a very consistent scorer for us. Kade Pennington, a sophomore, plays in the three spot. Kade decided after last season he was going to commit himself to improving his game. He has made great strides in his game. Like Owen and Matthew, when he plays with confidence, he has a strong game.

“Isaac Weber, a junior, is Mr. Consistent. He has been our No. 2 scores in all but two 18 hole matches and was medalist in another match. He is very cerebral on the course and thinks through his approach on every hole. He has had a tremendous season and is one of the top five Class A players in scoring average for 18 holes. Coen Pennington, a senior, has done everything we have asked of him this season. He has taken the next step with his game, and probably has improved the most as a putter. He has put in so much time and effort to improve. He has posted the best scoring average for 18 holes of any kid in 1A..

“We have some very lofty goals for this weekend. I felt like last year we were happy to be there and got a little caught up in the bright lights. The greens are pretty quick and we had a lot of three putts. If we can handle the greens, I feel like we have a great chance to add to the collection of hardware at THS. But, as in any sport, the game is not played on paper and rankings mean nothing at this point. We have to play our game.

“These kids have shown this season they are more than capable and I can’t wait for Friday morning so we can get started. This team won the school’s first ever stroke play tournament, first regional, set new scoring records and then broke it twice. They have been a lot of fun to coach.”

Teutopolis Girls Coach Shannon Hinkle —

“Brileigh Bloemer is making her third appearance this year in the State Tournament. Needless to say she is so excited about this opportunity that she’s worked so hard for.

“I look for big things from not only Brileigh but Molly too. They’ve been working so hard to make this happen for themselves. Brileigh approaches her golf game with a very calm demeanor and things don’t rattle her, so getting this opportunity again and with this beautiful weather, she just exemplifies a lot of great golf from a really good person.

“Molly is making her second appearance at the State Tournament. And she only started with the team last year. She jumped from tennis to golf, and I couldn’t be happier. She tells me frequently that she wishes she would’ve golfed all four years, but there’s nothing we can do about that. However, she is approaching the game in a very positive and calm way as well and I just am so excited for these two seniors.”