WOODSTOCK — Mount Abraham Union High School senior Jona Scott earned Division II and overall medalist honors at the state championship meet at the Woodstock Country Club this past Wednesday by firing a 69, but his Eagle team fell one stroke short of a D-II team championship.
Coach Frank Walch said there was confusion at the end of the tournament, and for a few moments the Eagles thought they had won. But when the final scores were tallied, the news was disappointing: Perennial champion Lyndon, winner of five of the past nine D-II titles, came in at 358 to the Eagles’ 359.
“We all knew it was close,” Walch said. “The guys handled it well.”
They did have some consolation.
“It was the best finish in Mount Abe’s history, ever,” Walch said.
After Scott the Eagles saw freshman Carson Sanchez shoot 85, and seniors Matt Sweeney and Reg Valley come in at 96 and 109, respectively. Walch said only about a dozen of the 100 golfers broke 80 on the challenging Woodstock course.
All four of Lyndon’s golfers came in between 87 and 92 to edge the Eagles, who Walch said rallied on the back nine to make it close: Scott shot 36-33, Valley went from a 63 on the front nine to a 46 on the final nine holes, and Sanchez went 46-38.
But the biggest story was Scott, who won nine of 10 events he entered this spring, including the Metro Conference two-man best-ball tournament on May 31 with Sweeney; the two combined to shoot even par at that best-ball event, with Sweeney contributing several birdies, Walch said.
Scott also won the South Sectional tournament and all regular season Metro events except one that he lost by one stroke. Walch said his senior standout picked up a lot of hardware on Wednesday, when his closest overall competitor was Rutland’s Drake Hull, who fired a 71.
“They handed out like five awards to him there,” Walch said.
By the time Scott approached the last hole of a Wednesday round in which he fired four birdies and 14 pars, most other D-II golfers and coaches had gathered to watch.
“When he finished up his last putt, they gave him a standing ovation,” Walch said.