Phoenixville's Roberts trails defending champion Morgan by five as PIAA Class AAA Championship tees off at Penn State

 

   Phoenixville senior Kayley Roberts blew away the field in the District One Class AAA Championship last week at Turtle Creek Golf Course, running away with the title by nine shots.

   But Roberts was well aware that in trying to reach the ultimate goal, an individual state championship, she was going to be running into reigning champion Mya Morgan, a senior at Elizabeth Forward.

   And Morgan proved to be just as tough as she had been a year ago, carding an opening round of 3-under-par 69 at a blustery Penn State Blue Course Monday to lead Roberts and two others by five shots.

   The wind was certainly howling in the southeastern corner of the state Monday as I completed a loop in a J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship fundraising outing at Stonewall’s Old Course. I imagine it was blowing just as hard in State College with the temperatures closer to 50 than the low 60s it reached in the northwest corner of Chester County Monday.

   But Morgan seemed unbothered by the difficult conditions, getting an eagle at the par-5 fifth hole to jump-start her outstanding round.

   Morgan made a birdie at the ninth hole, a bogey at 10 and then rattled off birdies at 11, 14 and 16 to get it to 5-under for the round. Morgan came back to earth a little with back-to-back bogeys at the 17^th and 18^th holes to fall back to 3-under.

   Roberts, who will join older sister Kate on the Delaware golf team at the end of next summer, piled up plenty of experience on some of the biggest stages in junior golf last summer.

   She just missed earning a berth in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course in Johns Creek, Ga.

   A few weeks later, Roberts survived the 36-hole cut, but came short of the 54-hole cut in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.

   After making back-to-back bogeys at the third and fourth holes Monday at the Blue Course, Roberts got back to even-par with birdies at nine and 12. But Roberts struggled to three straight bogeys at the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th holes before making a birdie at the finishing hole at the Blue Course to get it back to 2-over.

   Roberts finished in a tie for third place on Penn State’s White Course, three shots behind Morgan, in last year’s PIAA Class AAA Championship.

   Joining Roberts at 2-over were Lebanon’s talented freshman Bryn Brandt and Peters Township senior Ellie Benson, who finished in a tie for seventh place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship a year ago.

   Catholic League champion Alaina Carson, Cardinal O’Hara’s talented sophomore, headed a trio of players tied for fifth place with a solid 3-over 75.

   Carson earned a trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior at the Atlanta Athletic Club in the summer by capturing the title in the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Lebanon Country Club.

   She joined Roberts in the tie for third as a freshman in last year’s Class AAA state championship. Pretty sure that was the highest finish ever for a Catholic League player.

   Carson struggled a little early in her opening round Monday with bogeys at the second, fourth, sixth and 10^th holes. She righted the ship with back-to-back birdies at the 12^th and 13^th holes before falling back to 3-over with a bogey at 17.

   Carson was joined at 3-over by Hollidaysburg senior Crosby Denis and Warwick senior Piper Smith.

   Central League rivals Jill Burks, a junior at Conestoga, and Elayna Fanelli, a senior at Radnor, headed a foursome of players tied for eighth place at 4-over 76. Burks and Fanelli are both making their third straight appearance in the state tournament.

   Joining Burks and Fanelli in the quartet tied at 4-over were Southern Lehigh junior Lexi Miller and North Pocono senior Lyla Jones.

   Burks has two Conestoga teammates in the field.

   Junior Corinne McReynolds was in a tie for 15^th place with a 79 and sophomore Nicolette Bottos was in the group tied for 23^rd place with an 85.

   The Conestoga trio will anchor what appears to be a formidable entry in the PIAA Class AAA team competition Wednesday. The Pioneers rolled to a 25-shot victory in last week’s District One Class AAA team chase at Raven’s Claw Golf Club.

   Another Central League standout, Harriton sophomore Megan Choi, making her second straight appearance in the state tournament, was alone in 19^th place with an 82.

   Unionville senior Reagan Wilson was alone in 18^th place with an 81 and another Ches-Mont League entry, West Chester Rustin senior Mina Benedetto joined Conestoga’s Bottos in the group tied for 23^rd with an 85.

   Perkiomen Valley junior Saloni Patel was in a tie for 20^th place after opening with an 83.

   The defending champion in the PIAA Class AA Championship, Maddie Koshko, a senior at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in nearby Boalsburg, found herself in a three-way tie for the lead following Monday’s opening round at Penn State’s White Course after posting a solid 4-under 68.

   Maddie Koshko was joined at 4-under by West Middlesex senior Kate Sowers and Alyssa Zhang, a talented sophomore at Shady Side Academy.

   Sowers was the runnerup to Maddie Koshko in Class AA a year ago and Zhang finished in third place.

   Another member of Team Koshko, St. Joseph’s sophomore Olivia Koshko, was seven shots behind the top three in fourth place after opening with a 3-over 75.

   Fairview senior Cora Hirz was another shot behind Olivia Koshko in fifth placed with a 4-over 76.

   The Catholic League was represented in the Class AA field by Nazareth Academy junior Adriana Seravalli, who was in a tie for ninth place with a 79.

   Daniel Boone senior Chase Yenser built up a lot of momentum coming into the scholastic season over the summer.

   The same week Carson was winning the Pennsylvania Junior Girls crown at Lebanon, Yenser was capturing the title in the Pennsylvania Junior Boys’ Championship at Hershey Country Club’s East Course.

   Yenser also earned a trip to the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Purdue and led the field following the opening round at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. He survived both cuts and finished in 19^th place.

   The District Three Class AAA champion opened his bid for a PIAA Class AAA crown with a sparkling 4-under 68 Monday at Penn State’s Blue Course that gave him a two-shot lead over defending champion Carson Kittsley, a junior at Fox Chapel, and South Fayette senior Sam Bishop.

   Yenser finished in a tie for second place in the state tournament a year ago, two shots behind Kittsley.

   Much like Morgan on the girls side, Yenser was unaffected by the difficult conditions as he made birdies on the first, third, fifth and ninth holes while touring the outgoing nine on the Blue Course in a sizzling 4-under 32.

   Yenser got it to 5-under for his round with a birdie on the 13^th hole before suffering the only blemish on his round with a bogey at 17.

   A couple of District One entries, Unionville senior Charlie Barrickman, the runnerup in last week’s District One Class AAA Championship at Turtle Creek, and Lower Merion senior Seiji Sako, headed a foursome of players tied for fourth place, each signing for a 1-under 71. It is the third straight appearance in the state tournament for both Barrickman and Sako.

   They were joined at 1-under by another South Fayette senior, Brady Newman, and Greater Latrobe senior Jack Sacriponte.

   Another District One representative making his third straight appearance in the state tournament, Coatesville senior Carson Holmes, was joined by Central York senior Dallas Inch and Emmaus junior Evan Walter V in a three-way tie for eighth place, as each matched par with a 72.

   Spring-Ford senior Lucas Kozak and Cedar Crest senior Dylan Ramsey, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a freshman in 2022, were tied for 11^th place, each posting a 1-over 73.

   West Chester Rustin senior Cole Berry, an impressive winner of the District One Class AAA title last week at Turtle Creek, Radnor senior Lannon Boyd, a two-time Central League champion, and Avon Grove junior Gus Stoltzfus were among a quartet tied for 13^th place, each recording a 2-over 74.

   Rounding out the group at 2-over was Boiling Springs senior James Sias.

   John Gavaghan, a senior at Catholic League power La Salle, and Bensalem senior Zac DeVos were among the group tied for 25^th place, each recording a 5-over 77.

   Conestoga’s Will Johnson had the highest finish of any District One golfer in the PIAA Class AAA Championship when he finished in a tie for ninth place as a freshman a year ago.

   Johnson, Central League rival Henry Sokol, a freshman at Harriton, and Springfield Montco’s Ryan Brnich, were among the group tied for 32^nd place as each registered a 78.

   In Class AA, Cole Powell, Scranton Prep’s talented sophomore, matched Yenser’s 4-under 68 at Penn State’s White Course to take a one-shot lead over Greensburg Salem’s Luke Sikora.

   Berks Catholic senior Braeton Stringer was another two shots behind Sikora in third place with a 1-under 71.

   Our Lady of the Sacred Heart senior Jonah Schollaert matched par with a 72 and was in fourth place and Annville Cleona freshman Benjamin Allwein was a shot behind Schollaert in fifth with a 1-over 73.

   Devon Prep sophomore Scott Cunningham was in the group tied for sixth place with a solid 2-over 74.

   Logan Turner, Devon Prep’s talented freshman, carded a 4-over 76 in his PIAA Class AA Championship debut and was among the group tied for 17^th place.