North now 5 & 0 all time vs. South, North girls have won 4 out of 5:
Courtesy of the Alabama High School Athletic Association:
MONTGOMERY – The North All-Star Boys’ golf team nipped the South 39-33 Monday and the North All-Star girls’ squad won 51-39 as the 28th AHSAA All-Star Week got underway with the boys’ and girls’ golf competition at Arrowhead Golf Club.
The North boys won 39-33 improving to 5-0 in the North-South overall series which was added to All-Star Sports Week in 2019. The North girls’ victory was their fourth in five years – improving their lead in the series to 4-1.
The match-play golf competition kicked this week’s all-star action which pits rising seniors from the North and South in a total of 13 contests. The North-South baseball all-star competition was also set for Monday night at Riverwalk Stadium.
The AHSAA Summer Conference, annually attended by more than 7,000 coaches and administrators, gets underway Tuesday, and will conclude on Friday.
Athens Bible’s A.J. Bradford and Westbrook Christian’s Cove McHugh earned MVP honors for the North beating Bayside Academy’s Luke Ferguson and St. Paul’s Episcopal linkster Walter Hensley 11-7 in their head-to-head dual match. Hoover’s Jacob Lee, who wound up playing in his match-play contest by himself, beat the South duo of American Christian’s Mac Moorer and Montgomery Academy’s Thomas Floyd 10-8. The South tied the North 9-9 in the other two matches with both South duos earning MVP honors for their squad. Smiths Station’s Ben Holland and Elba’s Trace Grantham tied the North team of Davis Ray (Fayetteville) and Braden Holt (Madison County) 9-9. St. Paul’s Will Conwell and Smiths Station’s Ben Halverstad also tied the North duo comprised of Cam McHaffey and Southside’ Justin Lovoy 9-9 to share the South MVP honors.
North girls’ MVP was Polly McCrackin. The Hayden golfer, who was low medalist in the AHSAA Class 4A/5A state golf championships last May, competed in the duals match competition as an individual and beat the South team of Mobile Christian’s Adleigh Marshall and New Brockton’s Morgan Casey, 13.5 to 4.5. The North girls won three of the five matches, tied one and lost one. The South team of Lauryn Leonard (Pike Road) and Evelyn Tankersley (Alabama Christian) beat the North duo consisting of Lucia Perez (Westminster Christian) and Morgan Hopper (Hewitt-Trussville) 13-5 to earn South MVP honors.
Jaycee Berrong and Morgan Maddox, from Geraldine and Homewood high schools, respectively, won 12-6 over the South’s Hannah Halverson of Auburn and Eden Pendleton of Trinity Presbyterian. Spain Park’s Carmen Britt and Oneonta’s Savannah Sandlin also beat the South duo, Rayla Pierce of Gulf Shores, and Lyndee Davis of Smiths Station, 11-5 – 6.5. In the fifth match, McGill-Toolen’s Addison Fairley and St. Paul’s Episcopal golfer Laurel Gottlieb tied Alexandria’s Nevaeh Foster and Cullman’s Jazmin Conn 9-9 over the 18-hole competition to round out the scoring.
Coaches for the 2024 All-Star Golf squads were: (North Girls) Craig Kiker, Alexandria;
Ginger Willingham, Mars Hill Bible; Keat Litton, Spain Park (administrative coach).
(South Girls) Alex Davis, Smiths Station; David Armstrong, St. Paul’s Episcopal; Jay Koziol, UMS-Wright (administrative coach).
(North Boys) Jonathan Hayes, Cullman; Keat Litton, Spain Park; (South Boys) Alex Davis, Smiths Station; David Armstrong, St. Paul’s Episcopal; Jay Koziol, UMS-Wright (administrative coach).
Photo of North golf all stars, coached by Jonathan Hayes of Cullman.
Photo courtesy of the AHSAA.
