Denis captures her fourth District 6 3A title for Lady Tigers

H.S. Girls Golf

SALIX -- Hollidaysburg senior Crosby Denis made more history Thursday afternoon when she became a four-time District 6 Class 3A girls golf individual champion at Windber Country Club.

On a day where the course was in good condition and the weather was beautiful -- so was the way Denis played compared to the field.

Despite a triple bogey on her fifth hole when her ball plugged in a sand bunker, Denis was never threatened and held the lead throughout, eventually winning with a 3-over par score of 75, a score 11 strokes better than runner-up Callie Harm of State College.

"This feels very good," Denis said. "I'm excited and so happy. It was ridiculously nice to play without much pressure after the last couple of years. This is the nicest weather we have had in years. The course is in good condition after it was wet last year. It couldn't have been more perfect."

Denis responded to the triple bogey by making birdie on her next hole. She made par on the next six holes to steady her round and briefly moved under par with birdies on No. 13 and No. 14. The first of those, on a par 3 over water, bounced just right of the flag and spun back toward it. For a moment, it looked like she may have made a hole-in-one, but the ball was slightly behind the hole.

"That's great for her to win four in a row and get a chance to go up to states," Hollidaysburg coach Jill Hileman said. "She had a great tournament last year, and I'll be looking forward to her maybe doing even better this year. It's great to see her come out and play like this. She's had a lot of stressful things going on with sports in her life the last couple weeks, so it was nice to see her win with some ease today."

A year ago, Denis finished fifth at the Class 3A PIAA championships, the best finish by a female Hollidaysburg golfer in the event.

"Obviously I want to do very well, hopefully better than I did last year," Denis said. "But if I go in with the same mindset to play well, have fun and do my best, I think it will end up a lot better than if I hold myself to strict standards."

Despite the joy over Denis winning another individual championship, Hollidaysburg dealt with heartbreak Thursday as well.

The Lady Tigers held the team lead over State College throughout the match, but as the afternoon went on, the size of the lead began to shrink. On the final hole, it evaporated completely and State College came away with a 276-277 victory.

"It's obviously awful," Denis said. "All of us collectively could have played better in one way or another. It's definitely tough."

At first glance, it seemed as though Hollidaysburg had a better combination of three scores in the team competition over State College, but Arie Kerstetter's 101, which was the eighth-best score individually, did not count toward the team score as Hileman had to designate only five of her six players to count toward Hollidaysburg's team total.

Kerstetter was the player left out, and if her score was added with Denis' score and Maliah Malausky's 95 it would have put the Lady Tigers at 271.

"We have to pick five that count toward the team score, but we can play six," Hileman said. "So we do it based on our averages and how matches have gone coming into this one. (Assistant coach) Mitch (Johns) and I discussed those things, and we felt like it was a flip of a coin. Our No. 3 through No. 6 players have been a toss-up, and it really was a flip of the coin. I didn't pick the right one today, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. That's golf."

In Class 2A, Olivia Koshko kept the District 6 girls individual championship in the family for the fifth consecutive year with a comeback one-stroke victory over Westmont Hilltop's Gabby Fillia.

Koshko had two double bogeys early in her round but stuck with it and eventually prevailed with a 78. Her sister, Madison, won four straight District 6 championships and the PIAA championship last fall and is now competing at Penn State.

"I just relaxed and had a good time with the girls I was playing with," Koshko said. "I tried not to focus on it and just played my game. Winning a district championship means a lot to me. I'm just so happy, because this is a great thing to win."

Penn Cambria's Mikayla Durbin placed fourth and earned a medal with an 88, and Central Cambria's Bella Mesoras tied for sixth with a 91.

In addition to Koshko, Fillia and third-place finisher Nora Burns of Philipsburg-Osceola, who shot an 83, advanced to states.

Westmont Hilltop won the team championship with an overall score of 260. Central Cambria was second with 290.

Back in 3A, Malausky placed fourth and also earned a medal. Only Denis moves onto states individually.

Team champions State College and Westmont Hilltop will take part in a PIAA regional Wednesday at Ebensburg Country Club if the champions of the districts they are set to play against have low enough scores to qualify to move on.

"That's just how golf is," Hileman said. "You can expect to have certain scores from certain kids, and it just doesn't always happen that way. We'll just tell them that we'll have to keep working. Next year, we'll have a big hole to fill with Crosby graduating, but that's just the way it goes sometimes."

CLASS 3A

TEAM RESULTS

1, State College (SC) 276; 2, Hollidaysburg (H) 277; 3, Altoona (A) 322.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (CHAMPION ADVANCES)

1, Denis, H, 75; 2, Harm, SC, 86; 3, Arrowsmith, SC, 93; 4, Malausky, H, 95; 5, Norman, Mifflin County, 97; 6, Wheeler, SC, 97; 7, Lee, SC, 99; 8, Kerstetter, H, 101; T-9, Angle, Bellefonte, 103; T-9, Siuta, SC, 103; 11, Jackson, A, 105; T-12, Bihary, H, 107; T-12, Bankert, A, 107; 14, Baker, A, 110; T-16, Yost, H, 115; T-16, Hartswick, Bellefonte, 115; 18, Wilkinson, A, 116; 19, Weidley, H, 118; 20, McGhee, A, 119.

CLASS 2A

TEAM RESULTS

1, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 260; 2, Central Cambria (CC) 290; 3, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 300; 4, Richland (R) 301; 5, Penn Cambria (PC) 314; 6, Northern Cambria (NC) 327; 7, River Valley (RV) 329.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (TOP THREE ADVANCE)

1, Koshko, Saint Joseph's, 78; 2, Fillia, WH, 79; 3, Burns, PO, 83; 4, Durbin, PC, 88; 5, Hill, WH, 90; T-6, Mullen, WH, 91; T-6, Mesoras, CC, 91; 8, Fridley, RV, 95; T-9, Bradley, Bishop Carroll, 96; T-9, Stouffer, R, 96; T-9, Dumm, CC, 96; T-9, Cruley, Forest Hills, 96; 13, Wesner, WH, 98; 14, Fahr, PO, 101; 15, Friedman, R, 102; T-16, McAneny, R, 103; T-16, Papcunik, CC, 103; T-18, Beyer, R, 107; T-18, Sheredy, NC, 107; 20, S. Neff, NC, 108; 21, Fickes, R, 109; 22, Twinchek, RV, 110; T-23, Wirfel, PC, 112; T-23, E. Neff, NC, 112; 25, McConnell, PC, 114; 26, Meersand, PO, 116; 27, Paronish, NC, 117; 28, Dechow, Bald Eagle Area, 122; 29, McDowell, RV, 124; 30, Miller, Saint Joseph's, 131; T-31, Barnish, PC, 138; T-31, Dixon, RV, 138; 33, Wiesinger, PC, 143; 34, Hill, CC, 145.