Only a few shots had separated the Inter-Ac League’s top three teams, Malvern Prep, Episcopal Academy and two-time defending champion Haverford School through the first three invitationals that comprise the league’s regular season.
When the Friars hosted the Malvern Prep Invitational Tuesday at Waynesborough Country Club, the fourth of the sixth Inter-Ac mini-tournaments, there was no separating them at all.
That’s right, all three teams landed on 9-over-par 184, which allowed Malvern Prep to maintain its narrow edge over Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Ac standings. The Haverford School trails the top two in third place, but nobody is counting out the talented Fords.
The host Friars got a huge boost from junior Ayden Gallen, who carded a solid 1-under 34 to lead the way for them. Gallen had eight pars on his scorecard and a birdie at the eighth hole in his steady tour of Waynesborough’s outgoing nine.
Junior Colby Komancheck and Davis Conaway, one of Malvern Prep’s three senior captains, are 1-2, respectively, in the individual standings compiled during the invitationals and the Friars got typically solid showings from them.
Komancheck, who teed it up in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. in the summer, backed up Gallen with a 1-over 36. Komancheck came out of the gate firing as he opened his round with three straight birdies.
Conaway and junior Timmy Burns each tallied a solid 2-over 37.
Conaway captured the title in the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac’s individual crown as a freshman in 2022 and he and Komancheck have both been top-five finishers in the Bert Linton in each of the last two falls.
Rounding out the counters for Malvern Prep was junior Michael DiDomenico, who recorded a solid 5-over 40.
Hey, when three teams finish in a tie for first place, it’s obvious that, on this day, every shot mattered.
Episcopal Academy was led by junior Arthur Hampel, who was the individual medalist for the day with a sparkling 2-under 33 at Waynesborough.
Carson Jakuc, also a junior, backed up Arthur Hampel for the Churchmen with a solid 1-over 36. Junior Connor Smolenski added a 2-over 37 and junior Freddy Hartman chipped in with a 38.
Episcopal could take its pick for its final counter from among senior captain Will Krietsch, junior Liam Crowley and freshman George Hampel, another member of EA’s Team Hampel, as each posted a 40.
Haverford School was led by its senior stalwart Sean Curran as he signed for a sparkling 1-under 34.
Curran, who will join the program at Penn in the Ivy League at the end of next summer, was the Inter-Ac’s best player a year ago. He won the individual points race during the regular season and then swept to titles in the Bert Linton at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Championship at Radley Run Country Club.
Curran’s solid showing Tuesday at Waynesborough left him just a point behind Conaway in third place in the individual points chase. Komancheck holds a 19-point advantage over his teammate Conaway at the top of the points list.
Juniors Quinn Gallagher and Jack Luterman backed up Curran, each registering a 2-over 37 for the Fords.
Seniors Nicky Nemo and William Forman each carded a 3-over 38 to round out the counters for Haverford School.
Curran and Nemo, both Merion Golf Club members, met for the title in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship at Merion’s West Course in the summer with Curran prevailing in the match-play final.
It was the first time since the Inter-Ac adopted the individual format for its regular season in 2012 after moving golf from a spring sport to the fall that there was a three-way tie for first place.
Malvern Prep, which shared the top spot with Episcopal Academy in the season-opening Penn Charter Invitational at Huntingdon Valley, added two more ties to its ledger with the outcome of the Malvern Prep Invitational and remains atop the league standings with a 16-1-3 mark.
Episcopal Academy is right on the Friars’ heels with a 15-2-4 record.
A shot here or there could have Haverford School in first place, but the Fords are in third with a 13-5-2 mark.
Germantown Academy finished in fourth place Tuesday at Waynesborough with a 200 total that was 16 shots behind the three teams tied at the top.
Penn Charter edged Springside Chestnut High Academy by two shots for fifth place, the Quakers finishing with a 207 total to the Blue Devils’ 209.
Germantown Academy holds down fourth place in the standings with a 6-14 record, Penn Charter is fifth at 5-15 and Springside Chestnut Hill is sixth at 1-19.
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