By MARC PRUITT
A pair of former Reagan Raiders teammates had strong finishes at the Trusted Choice Big I Girls State Tournament at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines on July 13-14.
Hannah Craver, a rising freshman at Appalachian State, had a 2-over total of 142 after rounds of 75-67 for a second-place finish, two strokes behind champion Emilia Migliaccio.
Victoria Allred, a rising senior at Reagan and the 4-A state champion in 2011, shot 74-72 to finish in third place, six shots out of the lead.
Allred, who has committed to play at East Carolina, was logging her first tournament since an automobile accident in March left her injured and unable to play.
Craver and Allred earned berths into the Big I National Championship, which will be held at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst on Aug. 3-8.
Allred finished regulation tied with Kate Collom of Davidson and Jessica Kittelberger of Raleigh, then secured her berth in the National Championship tournament on the second playoff hole.
North Carolina Junior
Lucia Polo of Greensboro defeated Emilia Migliaccio of Cary 5 and 3 at Bentwinds Golf and Country Club in Fuquay-Varina in mid June to capture the North Carolina Junior Girls Championship.
Polo, who will attend Tennessee in the fall, started strong and held a 5 up lead through the eighth hole. She clinched the match with a birdie on the par-3 15th hole for her second CGA title.
Peggy Kirk Bell PGS Junior Girls Championship
Lucia Polo finished as the runner-up to medalist Sarah Spicer during the Peggy Kirk Bell PGS Junior Championnship held in early July at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro.
Polo shot matching 72’s in both rounds to finish one shot back of Spicer.
Hannah Craver was one of five players to fire an under par final round, closing with a 71 to finish in fifth place at 147, four shots back of the champion.
Ashlii Thompson of Brown Summit finished tied for seventh, six strokes back.
Polo is ranked No. 1 on the Tour’s Order of Merit with 579.50 points, winning once on the circuit this season in her eight starts while playing to an average score of 75.57.
North and South Junior Amateur
Cecily Overbey of High Point finished tied for fourth place in the 35th North and South Junior Amateur Championship held at Pinehurst Resort.
Overbey, a rising senior at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point who has committed to play at North Carolina State, posted 73-75-68 and ended four shots behind medalist Anna Redding of Concord.
Overbey qualifies for U.S. Girls’ Junior
Cecily Overbey shot 69 at the U.S. Girls’ Sectional Qualifier in Elverson, Pa., to qualify for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, a USGA event.
Overbey was one of four qualifiers from Elverson to make the field.
It was the second time in four years that Overbey qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Triad boys qualify for U.S. Junior Amateur
William Register of Burlington, Ben Schlottman of Advance and Davis Richards of China Grove secured three of the five allotted qualifying spots for the U.S. Boys Junior Amateur in Sectional Qualifying at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State.
Register, a rising senior at Burlington Williams, had rounds of 67-71 and was the medalist with a 6-under total 138.
Schlottman, a rising senior at Forsyth Country Day, finished in second place after rounds of 71-71 to finish four shots back.
Register and Schlottman were the only two players to finish under par in the 106-player field.
Richards, a rising junior at South Rowan High, tied for third with 73-71.
Golf Pride Junior Championship
Eric Mitchell of Winston-Salem rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to capture the Golf Pride Junior Championship Senior-Junior division at Mid South Club in Pinehurst.
Mitchell, a rising senior at Forsyth Country Day School, held a two-shot lead after the abbreviated first round of nine holes and closed with a 71.
Harrison Frye of Gastonia notched a 2-under final round 69 to tie Mitchell and send the tournament into sudden death.
Joseph Cansler of Clemmons finished tied for fourth, six shots behind Mitchell.
Drive, Chip & Putt
Riley Hamilton of Reidsville has advanced to the regional round of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition.
In local qualifying at Richmond Country Club, Hamilton took first place in the girls age 10-11 division. She earned an invitation to compete in the Aug. 26 regional event at River Bend Golf & Country Club in Great Falls, Va.
Regional winners will then advance to the national championship at Augusta National Golf Club next April.
Eliza Ofsanko of Greensboro narrowly missed advancing as she finished third in the girls 7-9 division. The top two from each of eight age groups qualified.
Western Junior
Thomas Walsh, a rising junior at Westchester Country Day in High Point, finished 30th at the Western Junior Championship held at Meridian Hills Country Club in Indianapolis.
Wash carded rounds of 72-72-73-71 for a 288 (4-over) total, 17 shots behind the tournament winner.
Dogwood Junior Championship
Gray Townsend of Winston-Salem finished tied for seventh at the Dogwood Junior Championship held at River Landing Country Club in Wallace in mid July.
Townsend, a rising senior at Forsyth Country Day, was tied for the lead after an opening round 68.
He stumbled with a 74 in the second round and carded a 75 in the final round, finishing eight shots back of tournament champion Jonathan Rector of Hendersonville.
High Point’s Hardin Council finished tied for 27th with 75-77-72.
In the girls division, Greensboro’s Savanna Mackie finished tied for 10th, 23 shots behind champion Jennifer Chang of Cary.
