Two players who have accounted for the last three
Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ championships will enter Tuesday’s final round of
this year’s championship, presented by Lecom, sitting at 1-2, respectively, on
the leaderboard following Monday’s opening round at Hershey Country Club’s East
Course.
Rylie Heflin, a sophomore at Tower Hill Academy who plays
out of Hartefeld National Golf Club, is the defending champion and fired an
even-par 71 on the challenging Hershey East layout to take the lead as she bids
for a repeat.
Philadelphia Country Club’s Kaitlyn Lees, who recently
completed an outstanding scholastic career at Agnes Irwin, was going for her
third straight Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ crown last year after capturing
back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, but couldn’t quite catch Heflin.
The Dartmouth-bound Lees carded a 2-over 73 and is just two
shots behind Heflin in second place in Lees’ final shot at the Pennsylvania Junior
Girls. A third state junior title would be a nice addition to Lees’ resume as
she prepares to exit the junior ranks.
Jennifer Cleary, Heflin’s teammate at Tower Hill playing out
of Applecross Country Club, and Lydia Swan of Lake View Country Club are tied
for third at 3-over 74, a shot behind Lees. Cleary, a junior at Tower Hill, is
coming off a victory in the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship last
week at Riverton Country Club. She battled Heflin down to the wire in last year’s
Pennsylvania Junior Girls.
Heflin had five birdies on her card Monday, at the second, ninth,
10th, 16th and 18th holes, to offset three bogeys and a double bogey.
Caroline Wrigley, who finished third in the PIAA Class AAA
Championship as a junior at North Allegheny last fall, is alone in fifth place with a
4-over 75. Wrigley plays out of Butler Country Club. Julia McGlaughlin of Saucon
Valley Country Club is another shot behind Wrigley in sixth with a 5-over 76.
Lauren Freyvogel, who won the PIAA Class AAA title at the Heritage
Hills Golf Resort as a junior at Pine Richland last fall, is tied for seventh
place at 6-over 77 with Ellen Wager of Overlook Golf Club. Freyvogel is playing out
of Treesdale Golf & Country Club. Wager finished fifth in the state
championship as a junior at Manheim Township last fall.
Elizabeth Beek, the talented youngster who plays out of
Bluestone Country Club, heads a group of four players tied for ninth place at 80. She
is joined at that figure by Natasha Kiel of Jericho National Golf Club, Jessica
Meyers of Oakmont Country Club and Danae Rugola of Uniontown Country Club.
On the boys side, Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Patrick
Isztwan, who captured the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual title as a
freshman at Penn Charter last fall, fired a 1-under 70 and will take a one-shot
lead into Tuesday’s final round.
Carson Bacha, the talented junior at Central York playing
out of Out Door Country Club, is a shot back of Isztwan with an even-par 71.
Bacha finished fifth in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a freshman, but
bypassed the state tournament last fall because he had a conflict with an AJGA
event for one of the individual qualifying tournaments. He did, however, tee it
up for Central York in the team competition.
Isztwan got off to a hot start with birdies at the first,
third and fourth holes. After bogeys at seven and eight, he ripped off six
straight pars before a double bogey at 15 dropped him back to 1-over for the
round. But he made back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 to get it to 1-under for
the round.
Norristown’s Ryan brothers, Caleb and Joshua, accounted for
two of the four players tied for third place at 2-over 72. Home-schooled through Commonwealth
Connections Academy, the Ryans represent Norristown High on the golf course.
Caleb Ryan reached the PIAA Class AAA Championship for the second straight fall
as a junior and was joined at Heritage Hills by Joshua Ryan, a state qualifier
as a freshman.
Joining Team Ryan in the group tied for third at 72 were
Garrett Engle of the Country Club of Harrisburg and Luke Lestini of Hickory
Heights Golf Club.
Heading another quartet tied for seventh place at 2-over 73 is
Patrick Isztwan’s big brother Brian Isztwan, who won the Bert Linton Inter-Ac
individual title when he was a freshman at Penn Charter. Chosen to the
Transamerica Scholastic All-America team last fall, Brian Isztwan, who was the
Inter-Ac’s best regular-season performer each of the last two falls, is headed
for Harvard.
The Ryans and the Isztwans are threatening to turn the final round into an episode of "Family Feud"
Also in the group tied for seventh place is Spring Mill Country
Club’s Liam Hart, who captured the PIAA Class AAA title as a Holy Ghost Prep
junior last fall. Rounding out the foursome at 2-over 73 were Benjamin Smith of
Carlisle Country Club and Gregor Meyer of Wildwood Golf Club.
There are also state junior team crowns at stake at Hershey.
Applecross, getting the 74 from Cleary, and an 83 from
Liddie McCook, the PIAA Class AAA runnerup as a junior at Downingtown East last
fall, finished with a 157 total that is seven shots clear of the only other
team in the girls field, Uniontown, which posted a 164 total.
Huntingdon Valley, powered by Patrick Isztwan’s 70 and Brian
Isztwan’s 73, also got an 83 from Frankie Gregor for a 226 total. That gave
Huntingdon Valley a three-shot lead on Fox Chapel Golf Club.
Leading the way in the Junior-Junior boys division, for guys
13 and under, is Bent Creek Country Club’s Andrew Bilson, who carded a 4-over
70. Not sure if the younger players were at a different course or if they
shortened up Hershey East and had them play it to a par of 66.
But regardless, Bilson is a Class of 2024, which means he’s
what, going into seventh grade, and he’s shooting 70 for 18 holes. Pretty
strong.
Benjamin Saggers, a Philadelphia Junior Tour entry from West
Chester, and Lucas Steinmetz, very likely the son of Spring-Ford Country Club
head pro Rich Steinmetz, are tied for second place, each carding a 77.
Megan Adelman of Bala Golf Club fired a 1-over 67 to take a
commanding lead in the Junior-Junior girls division. Hannah Barrett of
Chambersburg Country Club is second with an 86 and Libby Fleisher of McCall
Golf & Country Club is third with an 87.
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