ALTON - Marquette Catholic's Gracie Piar got a key birdie on the difficult par three eighth hole, and it was key in helping her shoot an even-par 72 on the Spencer T. Olin course at Gordon Moore Park to win the individual championship of the Marquette Blastoff Tournament Saturday.
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Piar was one of three Explorer golfers to place in the top ten, along with a pair of Alton golfers, as Marquette and the Redbirds placed second and third in the team standings. O'Fallon won the team title with a 323 score, with the Explorers coming in second at 338, and Alton placing third with a 345. Belleville East came in fourth with a 363, Collinsville was fifth at 392, Belleville West finished sixth with a 402, Civic Memorial was seventh with a score of 418, Father McGivney Catholic ended up eighth with a 419, Belleville Althoff Catholic was ninth at 431, and Roxana came in 10th with a score of 476.
Piar finished six shots ahead of the Panthers' Dylan Kirchoff, who shot a 78 on the day, with teammate Maddie Vanderheyden placing third with an 80. The Redbirds' Natalie Messinger was fourth at 81, while her teammate Riley Kenney was seventh with an 84. Audrey Cain of the Explorers came in eighth, carding an 85, and Marquette's Lilly Montague, Alton's Josie Giertz and Collinsville's Ricki Merlak all tied for 10th with identical 87 scores. A pair of O'Fallon teammates --- Reagan Martin with an 82, and Chloe Davidson, who shot an 83 --- finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Outside of Piar, Cain and Montague, Clancy Maag carded a 94 for Marquette, while Cat Hollis shot a 95, and Ava Bartosiak had a score of 101. Outside of Messinger, Kenney and Giertz, Na'liah Simmons shot an 87 for the Redbirds, while Olivia Boyd had a 97, and Lexi Paulin scored a 121.
Besides Merlak, Abby Fister shot a 93 for the Kahoks, while Maya Clark had a 101, Sammi Qualls and Anna Belobraydic each carded an 111, while Kiley Belobraydic shot an 113. Sophee Brown was the leading golfer for the Eagles, firing a 94, with Peyton Mormino carding a 101, Emily DeClue shooting a 109, Payton Whaley came up with an 114, Eliah Brown shot a 132, and Madeline Woelfel carded a 142.
Ellie Hyten led the way for the Griffins with a 93, Julia Stobie shot a 95 on the day, Paige Yasitis had an 115, Grace Stanhaus carded an 116, Jillian Matthews had a 125, and Chloe Albrecht scored a 128. The Shells were led by both Sarah Clark and Mia McCoy, who each carded a 109, Reagan Lynn had a score of 125, Grace Brock fired a 135, and Ava Strohmeier had a 154.
Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
