Highland boys golf finishes 6th in Class 2A Effingham Sectional, Emig makes state cut
Given the level of competition and the postseason stakes, the Highland boys golf team performed as well as they possibly could in a strong 12-team regional tournament.
Highland placed sixth with a score of 329 in the IHSA Class 2A Effingham Sectional at Effingham Country Club on Monday, Oct. 4, in Effingham.
Tournament champ Mater Dei (293), second place Benton (296), and Althoff Catholic (315) all advanced to the Class 2A Tournament.
“320s have pretty much been our average most of the year, so under tough tournament conditions at the sectional, (having) the boys shoot their average, we’re pretty proud of that,” Highland coach Brent James said. “Mater Dei and Benton, we pretty much knew going in they were going to go one-two.
“Mater Dei, across the board, they are very strong and the sectional had a lot of good players and a lot of good teams ... so finishing right in the middle of the pack, I’m very happy with that.”
While the Bulldogs just missed the state cut by three spots as a team, they did not get totally shut out in the sectional.
Dominick Emig led the way for HHS as he qualified for this the Class 2A tournament Friday, Oct, 8, at Welbring Golf Club in Normal with a strong 76. That score was good for ninth place overall in the lowest 18th hole score division.
“Dominick was about the ninth position overall and that put him in the top 10 individuals that were not a part of the three teams. Out of those he was like maybe fourth, so he made it pretty clearly,” James said.
Emig struggled early in his round hitting the greens with his irons but ultimately his putting allowed him to advance to state,
“Ball striking is normally a strength for him, but he made up for it with putting and he hit tons of one-putts,” James said. “The course was in great shape and the greens were rolling true and he was putting them on the right lines and they were dropping.”
Emig finished his round in dominant fashion, knocking down five straight pars to close out his day.
“I think he knew he was kind of in the hunt and really dialed it in there to finish,” James said.
Bryce Knackstedt placed 31st with an 81 followed by Braden Schropf and Easton Belford tying for 56th with an 86 each. Mason Emig placed 75th with a 91 and Tanner Gilliam rounded out the HHS scoring tied for 87th with Triad’s Owen Twyman, shooting a 96.
Highland girls golf
Highland’s lone girls Class 1A sectional qualifier, Syndey Coziar, finished 29th with a score of 92 in the Class 1A Gibualt Sectional on Monday, Oct. 4, at The Acorns Golf Links in Waterloo.
She finished just four strokes short of qualifying for the Class 1A tournament in Bloomington.
Cross Country
Although it was not a championship day, Highland’s boys cross country team still had a good day Oct. 2 as they placed fifth with 28 points in the Jacksonville Invitational in Jacksonville. Cole Basden paced HHS with a third-place finish in the No. 4 race (16:39). Avery Brock (16:40) placed fifth and Mason Steinbeck (16:47) placed sixth.
In the girls competition, the Lady Bulldogs sent six runners to the Peoria High School Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 2, while four runners ran in the flighted races in Jacksonville.
Liv Heinzmann and Madison Emig turned in big performances for HHS. Emig (20:18) finished third and Heinzmann (20:18) finished fifth overall in the flighted races.
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, the HHS boys and girls harriers trekked to Bethalto and competed in the Madison County Large Schools Tournament at Bethalto Sports Complex.
The boys finished second to first place Edwardsville with 49 points. Ethan Smith led the way for the Bulldogs finishing in fifth place (16:46) followed by Cole Basden in eighth place (16:56), and Mason Steinbeck rounded out the top three finishers for Highland with a 10th place showing (17:02).
Highland’s girls also fared well despite missing three of their top seven runners. The Lady Bulldogs also finished second behind Edwardsville, scoring 55 points but beat rival Triad, which finished in third place Triad (57 points).
Tarryn Keeney paced the Lady Bulldogs with her second sub-20-minute race as she finished in third place (19:32). Liv Heinzmann ran her best race to date with an 11th place overall finish (20:09) and Maddie Dortch finished just behind Heinzmann in 12th place (20:16).
Boys Soccer
Highland’s soccer Bulldogs returned to action Monday, Oct. 4, with a home match against Columbia.
The Bulldogs overcame a 2-0 halftime deficit with pair of second-half goals and earned a 2-2 tie.
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, the Bulldogs dropped a 2-1 home decision to MVC foe Civic Memorial. HHS saw the week finish on a down note with a home conference loss to Mascoutah, 4-1..
Girls Tennis
HHS honored its seniors Tuesday, Oct. 5, with Senior Night at Highland. Unfortunately, the Jerseyville Panthers ruined the festivities, handing the Lady Bulldogs netters a 9-0 home loss.
A day later, the Bulldogs rebounded at home with a dominating 9-0 match victory over Granite City. Lauren Herman won her No. 1 singles match 6-4, 6-4 while Katie Augustin won at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-2. Addison Crask won at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-3, and Sophia Fleming rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles.
Allie Rinderer won at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-0 and Nicole Bluhm gave the Lady Bulldogs a sweep of the singles flights with 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles.
HHS also dominated in doubles play, taking all three matches at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 doubles.
Girls volleyball
The week started off quite well for the Highland volleyball team as HHS traveled to Troy and dispatched rival Triad for a two-set 25-18, 25-18 victory Tuesday, Oct. 5.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 12:13 AM.