O’Fallon repeats as SWC champions to end regular season

The O’Fallon Township High School girls golf team capped off an historic regular season with an exclamation mark after repeating as tournament champions of the Southwest Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at the par-71 Orchards Golf Course in Belleville.

O’Fallon took the top three individual spots and had all six O’Fallon golfers place in the top eight as the Panthers turned in a phenomenal team score of 309 to beat out runner-up Edwardsville (336) by 27 shots.

Rounding out the conference field were Alton (370), Belleville East (378), Belleville West (385), Collinsville (399) and Granite City (442).

“The season has been very successful,” O’Fallon coach Chris Eddy said. “The girls are continuing to improve all facets of their game and continue to grow more confidence. Our depth has continued to help in our success. Any time you can win the conference tournament and take first through third individually and have six of the top top, I sure feel like it was a good event. It is a great feeling to win the conference back to back years.”

The Lady Panthers had several girls shoot below their average. Alyssa McMinn led the charge after carding a 4-over-par 75 to capture her fourth tournament win of the season.

Finishing right on McMinn’s heels were teammates Brooke Boatman and Natalie Meinkoth. Boatman finished a single stroke behind McMinn in second place with a 76, and Meinkoth was next on the leaderboard in third with a 77.

Also placing in the top eight for O’Fallon were Briana McMinn and Morgan Bemis, who tied for fifth place with matching rounds of 81; Emily Marrs, who placed seventh with an 83; and Liz Boehning, who shot an 85 and shared eighth place with two Edwardsville golfers.

Now O’Fallon’s focus shifts to the postseason. The Panthers will be heavy favorites when they play host to the IHSA Class 2A O’Fallon Regional on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Tamarack Golf Club in Shiloh.

“Our goals are still to continue to improve over the next two weeks in hope this group can reach and play well in the state tournament for the third consecutive year,” Eddy said. “I believe the girls are primed and ready to go for the postseason.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 1:16 PM with the headline "O’Fallon repeats as SWC champions to end regular season."