By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

ROUGH RIDER INVITATIONAL CONCLUDED

On Friday, 16 of the top teams in Northeast Ohio and beyond gathered at Windmill Lakes Golf Club in Ravenna for the annual Rough Rider Invite.

The tournament was rained out, but that didn’t stop the competition as teams returned on Saturday to finish the event.

Walsh Jesuit won the tournament with a score of 307, 14 strokes better than runner-up Stow (321) and third place, St. Edward (322).

Kent Roosevelt, hosts of the tournament, finished 14th and the Aurora Greenmen earned 11th place.

Liam Curtis, a senior at Kent, fired an even-par 70 at Windmill Lakes to take runner-up medalist, just one stroke behind Owen Heslop (69) of Marietta.

The Greenmen’s best was fired by Kyle Lancaster (80).

The tournament is often a preview for the best Division-I teams in the state.

TEAM STANDINGS

Walsh Jesuit 307, Stow 321, St. Edward 322, Hudson 324, Chagrin Falls 325, Canfield 327, Green 330, Olmsted Falls 334, St Vincent-St. Mary 335, University School 335, Aurora 337, Revere 343, Strongsville 343, Kent 344, Marietta 355, Twinsburg 370.

MEDALISTS

Owen Heslop, Marietta 69; Liam Curtis, Kent 70.

TEAM RESULTS

AURORA (337): Kyle Lancaster 80, Brady Allenick 94, Gannon Brady 84, Jackson Sarver 82, Wilson Brainard 91.

KENT ROOSEVELT (344): Liam Curtis 70, Deacon Smith 92, Jack Flynn 92, Owen Pulhalla 95, Jack Puhalla 90.

SOUTHEAST GIRLS PLACE THIRD AT CLASSIC

The Pirates’ girls team traveled to Salem Hills Golf Course, sight of the MVAC end-of-season tournament, to compete in the Mahoning Girls Golf Classic.

Southeast finished third (355) behind Canton Hoover (332) and Massillon Jackson (335), beating Medina Highland (364).

Taylor Blazek, a senior, fired an 83 on the Par-72 fairways of Salem Hills followed by freshman Sammy Morgan’s 84.

The rest of the Pirates pushing Southeast into third place among the top teams in the area included Aubree Varga 93, Jenni Mix 95 and Jessi Mix 96.

Another solid day on the links for Southeast as it remains undefeated this season (12-0) and look toward winning the new conference they are a part of and doing well in the postseason OHSAA tournaments.

“We are happy to finish in the top three of the 16-team tournament that saw programs from both Division I and Division II,” said Southeast coach Cindy Fesemyer. “This is a confidence builder for our girls individually as we head into tournament play. More importantly, I watched them play through some tough holes and rally towards the end of the round to hang onto third place. One thing about this team, they do not give up.”

AN ACE

Bryan Harvey holds up the golf ball after his ace at the Rough Rider basketball golf outing.

Bryan Harvey, coach of the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders’ girls program, is celebrating many firsts this season, his 150th victory as a coach, Kent’s 150th victory as a team.

He celebrated another first on Saturday in the Kent Roosevelt basketball outing hosted by the Fairways at Twin Lakes in Kent.

Harvey scored his first hole-in-one.

Playing with Shawn Bates, JR Thompson and Alan Golden, Harvey used his nine iron to ace the 144-yard second hole at the Fairways.

The retired Kent teacher is not only the coach of the Lady Riders, but he is also the manager at the Fairways at Twin Lakes.

“Bryan was golfing with me when I had my hole-in-one and now it’s reversed,” said Bates, a Kent Stanton middle-school teacher. Bates was also with Larry Picicco, longtime assistant Kent Lady Riders coach, when Picicco had his ace at Twin Lakes on hole 8.

IN MY OPINION: PORTAGE COUNTY MATCHES

The matches just had a different feel this week at Olde Dutch Mill as the Southeast boys and girls team swept their matches against the Rootstown Rovers and the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders.

Both matches were decided by a slim margin.

The Pirates topped Roosevelt by only four strokes and the Southeast boys bested Rootstown by six strokes.

A total of 10 strokes to decide both matches.

Southeast boys golf head coach Mike Jenior speaks to his team and Rootstown’s team prior to the start of their match earlier this week at Olde Dutch Mill.
Susan Jenior/Portage Sports

However, as the coaches talked about the matches, it seemed as if the teams tied.

Roosevelt and Rootstown have had longtime success with its programs, hosting middle-school matches and spending time over the summer helping the golfers to become better before the start of the season.

For Southeast, youth programs are relatively new since Pirates Play Golf and summer clinics and leagues were started to give kids a chance to improve before fall golf begins.

But the coaches and the players have the ultimate respect for each other, and they know each other well since they have competed or followed each other’s programs for decades upon decades in the Portage County League and the Portage Trail Conference.

The rivalries bring out the best in golf, teams and coaches are looking to play their best golf to win, not hoping for the other team to play lousy or lose.

It was great competition by coaches who care and seek for their own programs as well as the programs around them to be at their best.

When teams are traveling over an hour to matches and games, it’s different than when they are playing near the boundaries of Portage County.

There are 12 schools in Portage County: Aurora, Crestwood, Field, Garfield, Kent Roosevelt, Mogadore, Ravenna, Rootstown, Southeast, Streetsboro, Waterloo, Windham. All have their own facilities for multiple sports, but go outside of their respective campuses for sports like bowling, when teams compete at Spins, Kent Lanes and Sky Lanes, or golf, when courses enjoy having the local teams including Fairways at Twin Lakes and Raccoon Hill in Kent, Suffield Springs, Mulligan Springs and Paradise Lake in Suffield, Olde Dutch Mill in Lake Milton and Sunny Hill in Brimfield.

Parents and coaches, alike, see athletes frequently that they know from summer tournaments and clinics in all sports. We have it figured out that little-league baseball and softball, youth football, soccer, basketball, along with many other sports, compete nearby. The kids all just know each other as they make their way into high school. It should remain that way.

Maybe there will come a time when Portage teams will, again, join together in a league that sees travel no farther than 25 miles against familiar teams and rivalries.

There was certainly a case made for it at the matches between Southeast, Kent Roosevelt and Rootstown at Olde Dutch Mill as coaches wanted every athlete to do their best.

This is not to be nostalgic. It is practical for schools to travel as little as five miles between Waterloo, Rootstown, Field, Southeast, etc.

Counties, like Portage, in the Western Reserve, are five miles square. It is only natural that parents and students know many athletes from different schools.

Can anything be better than that?