NCHSAA 4A girls golf: Athens Drive’s Chang wins individual crown, Cardinal Gibbons claims team championship
Preternatural sophomores and championship streaks defined the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A girls golf 36-hole championships Monday and Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 6.
The sophomores were Athens Drive’s Jennifer Chang along with a trio of Cardinal Gibbons 10th-graders, Riley Smyth, Hailey Freedman and Hannah Rose Buxvoort.
The streaks featured Chang winning her second straight 4A individual title and Cardinal Gibbons claiming back-to-back state team titles, although this year the Crusaders took home the 4A team trophy after winning at the 3A level a year ago.
Chang and Smyth shot even-par 72s on Tuesday to share the low round of the tournament. They each recorded one birdie and one bogey to go with 16 pars. The low round of 75 in Monday’s cold was shared Freedman and by Ragsdale’s Madison Isaacson
“Monday was tougher with the cold,” Chang said. “I struggled with my putting. I was hitting left and right.”
Chang’s 72 over 5,580 yards followed a 6-over par 78 for a 150 total that was good for a two-stroke winning margin.
Four players were in the clubhouse with a 152 total before Chang finished. Tying for second place were Wake Forest’s Samantha Bennett (78-74), Lake Norman’s Kathryn Carson (79-73) and Laney’s Caroline Cahill (78-74).
Cardinal Gibbons won the team title by a comfortable 26-stroke margin over runner-up Pinecrest, 472 to 498. The Crusaders featured balanced scoring: Smyth totaled 153 (81-72), Freedman 154 (79-79) and Bruxvoort 165 (84-81).
“It’s such an honor to represent the school and bring home the state championship,” Smyth said. “It’s really a great group of girls. I couldn’t be happier to be here with them and to win it.”
Elizabeth Nguyen led Pinecrest with a 79-76-155. She also received the NCHSAA sportsmanship award.
Other streaks included Chang extending one but snapping another.
This was the fourth state title in a row claimed by an Athens Drive golfer and fifth in the last seven years. Emilia Migliaccio won in 2013, Sarah Bae in 2012 and Katherine Perry in 2009. But with Migliaccio also winning as a freshman in 2013, Chang’s sophomore status brought an end to the frosh run.
Chang admitted to feeling some pressure, but she concentrated on blocking it out.
“There’s always a little pressure, but I try not to think about it,” Chang said. “My coach (Dave Snyder) helps me. He always encourages me to think one shot at a time.”
Chang has a history of handling the weather. A week earlier she shot a 5-under par 67 to win her first 4A East regional despite a 35-degree temperature on the first tee at Heritage Golf Club in Wake Forest. Snyder walked the course and said it was more of the same at Pinehurst No. 6.
“As bad as the weather was today, it was crazy to shoot 72,” Snyder said. “It was raining all day and when the wind picked up it would bite through you. But she was consistent. She was like a robot.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 7:33 PM with the headline "NCHSAA 4A girls golf: Athens Drive’s Chang wins individual crown, Cardinal Gibbons claims team championship."