Jonesboro tops Marion

Jonesboro tops Marion

It seems that in professional and high-level collegiate sports, there is no such thing as a moral victory. Unless a team can “win it all,” the pundits and fan base are not satisfied. However, Marion golf walked away from their toughest match of the season with their heads held high and considered Tuesday’s match a moral victory.

Though the Hurricanes handily won the match on both the boys’ and girls’ sides, Marion narrowed the margin of victory by half over their season opener match-up against the Jonesboro team. In Tuesday’s game, the Patriots lost on the boys’ side 177-152 and on the girls’ side 179-160. (Palestine-Wheatley also participated in the match. They played 5 boys but the 2A school never factored into contention and finished third.) Whereas the boys’ margin of loss was 10 strokes per player in the season opener, it narrowed to 5 at Marion. On the girls’ side, the margin of loss was lowered by a whopping 13 strokes per player. The girls were paced by sophomore Sydney Masengale, who shot a team best 56; and she was followed closely by senior Christen Dykes who fired a 59. Sydney’s 56 was good enough to place third overall against the likely state champs. Seniors Morgan Masengale and Olivia Stottlemier continue to show improvement and are expected to keep up their hard work.

High school golf is always determined by the play of the #3 and 4 men. Gavin Truitt and Drew Hutcheson stepped up big time, as they turned in scores of 42 and 44 respectively. Gavin’s score of 42 was good enough for third overall. Sophomore Skylar Warren returned to form and shot a nice 43 over the nine holes. Monday’s match against West Memphis is rescheduled for September 6.

By The Evening Times Sports Staff