EDWARDSVILLE – The Marquette Catholic High School boys golf team will be heading to the state finals this weekend.
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The Explorers took third place in Monday’s IHSA Class 2A Highland Sectional, played at Oak Brook Golf Club in Edwardsville, qualifying the entire team for this weekend’s state finals at Weibring Golf Course in Normal.
Effingham St. Anthony won the sectional with a team score of 298, beating Highland in a tiebreaker, which also scored 298. Marquette and its Gateway Metro Conference rivals Althoff Catholic both scored 306, but the Explorers move on because of the tiebreaker.
There was then a three-way tie for fifth at 312 between Breese Mater Dei, Mt. Vernon, and Waterloo.
Carson Jones shot Marquette’s best round at 4-over par 75. The Explorers also counted scores from Sam Jun (76), Hubert Allen (77), and Andrew Belden (78). Ethan Dempsey shot an 82, and Henry Freihoff fired an 84.
This will be Marquette’s eighth time qualifying for state as a team. The Explorers did so for three straight years from 2002-2004, again in 2012, back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, and the last time being 2022.
In 2022, Marquette was in Class 1A, where it took third in the Effingham (St. Anthony) Sectional. The Explorers then missed the cut at state, shooting 345 in round one.
Last year, Carson Jones qualified individually for the state finals, where he finished in a five-way tie for 25th, shooting a two-day score of 158, with an 8-over par 80 on day one and 6-over par 78 on Saturday.
The Explorers will look to bring home some hardware with play beginning on Friday, October 10, at 9 a.m. from Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
