Mitchell and Morris both shot 72 to clinch their spot in next week’s state championship.
PNJ Headlines: Here’s what’s in the news Tuesday
Escambia pitches new law to protect Navy Point Park, Gulf Breeze making good on septic-to-sewer, and where to eat on Thanksgiving in Tuesday’s news
- Pensacola Catholic’s boys golf team failed to qualify for state, but two players advanced as individuals.
- West Florida’s boys and girls golf teams competed in regionals but did not advance to the state championships.
- Gulf Breeze and Pace’s girls golf teams competed at regionals, with Gulf Breeze placing fifth.
- The Gulf Breeze and Escambia girls cross country teams qualified for the regional championship.
- Navarre’s girls cross country team and one boys runner advanced to their regional championship.
Tuesday was a busy day of postseason sports in the Pensacola area. There were four golf regional championships and two district cross country championships, including the Region 1-1A boys golf championship right here in Pensacola.
Below is a recap of each.
Region 1-1A Boys Golf Championship (Pensacola Country Club)
There were mixed emotions for Pensacola Catholic on Tuesday.
Playing on their home course, the Crusaders failed to qualify for the 1A state championship as a team. They finished third, six strokes shy of second place Episcopal. But Catholic took the two individual qualifying spots, as junior Wilmer Mitchell and Ian Morris both shot 72 to tie for third and clinch a spot at state.
The FHSAA 1A state golf championship will take place Nov. 14-15 at Mission + Resort Club in Howey-in-the-Hills.
“Overall disappointed,” Crusaders head coach Jason Young said. “But really proud of the boys, they fought hard all day, tried to make a run out of it late but when you’re playing against two teams that are making birdies and you’re making pars it’s hard to pick up shots in that way.”
Pensacola Catholic believed they had a state caliber team. Young said the Crusaders bounced back between first and second in the region all year. They even broke the team record in a nine-hole event by shooting 5-under par in a quad at Stonebrook Golf Club in Pace on Oct. 21.
But the Crusaders didn’t get off to the best start, trailing by a couple strokes after the front 9. They came within one stroke of second place within the last few holes before coming up short.
Four of Catholics five players scored better on the back nine than the front nine, with Morris and Mitchell leading.
Morris was the Crusaders No. 5 golfer, meaning he was the first on the team to finish his round. He ended his round with birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th hole to put them back in the hunt. His putts were on line on the 15th and 16th hole. The 17th hole was a different story.
“17 I was off the green slightly about probably 60 feet away from the hole,” Morris said.“And just didn’t even line it up and made the luckiest putt of my life.”
Mitchell, who lives two minutes from the course and has been walking to practice rounds, got some motivation from seeing how his team was performing. He was Catholic’s No. 2 golfer, meaning he was the fourth of their quintet to tee off. After having two three putts in the front nine, he had two birdies and zero bogeys on the back nine.
Mitchell’s older brother, Hudson, is a freshman on the Navy golf team and was the 2024 PNJ Golfer of the Year.
“I’ve been lying to you if I said I didn’t check the scores,” Mitchell said. If I know what I have to do then it helps me. I knew I needed to start playing really well on the back 9 to give my team a shot. I just tried to do that.”
Northview also competed at regionals, finishing ninth with a score of 345. Junior Miles Smith shot an 82 and finished 36th to lead the Chiefs.
Providence won the regional title with a score of 293, one stroke ahead of Episcopal. Episcopal junior Aubrey Fellows shots a 68 to finish as the low individual medalist. Both teams qualified for the state championship.
Catholic is hoping to join them at state as one of eight at-large teams.
“We’ve been No. 1 or No. 2 in our region all year, top 15 in the state for most of the year,” Young said. “It all depends on how the rankings fall. There’s other at large bids available so we’ll just wait by the computer and see.”
Region 1-2A Boys Golf Championship (The Golf Club at Fleming Island, Orange Park)
West Florida finished 12th out of 12 teams with a score of 352. Sophomore Barrett Harvey, the Jaguars No. 5, was their highest finishing golfer, shooting an 80 to finish 35th.
Fleming Island won the regional title with a score of 290, with senior Tyler Mawhinney shooting a 64 to finish as the low individual medalist. Lincoln finished second with 303 to clinch the other automatic team berth to the 2A state championship.
Santa Fe junior Brayden Pedersen (2nd, 73) and West Nassau junior Will Wiggins (3rd, 74) qualified for state as individuals.
Region 1-2A Girls Golf Championship (Quail Heights Country Club, Lake City)
West Florida finished eighth out of 12 teams with a score of 403. District 1-2A champion Abby Vernier led the Jaguars, shooting a 78 to finish eighth.
Pine Forest junior Anna Rudd (28th, 101) and Pensacola junior Evana Lin (45th, 107) also competed as individuals.
South Walton won the team title with a score of 348. Stanton finished second with a score of 353, with senior Lily Chiang shooting a 67 to finish as the low individual medalist. Both teams qualified for the 2A state championship.
Wolfson freshman Akery Paing (2nd, 68) and Suwanee senior Ryan Donaldson (t-3rd, 70) qualified for state as individuals.
Region 1-3A Girls Golf Championship (Hawkstone Country Club, Gainesville)
Gulf Breeze was the highest finishing area team, placing fifth with a score of 339. Senior Riley Bounds shot a team-best 79 and finished 19th.
Pace also competed in regionals, finishing 10th with 352. Freshman Gianna Dettling was the Patriots top golfer, shooting a 76 to finish 11th. Navarre sophomore Jaya McDonald also competed in regionals, shooting an 81 to finish 26th.
Ponte Vedra won the regional title with a score of 296, with senior Stella Moritz shot a 68 to finish as the low individual medalist. while Nease finished second with 310 to clinch the other automatic team berth to the 3A state championship.
Beachside junior Sophia Rivera (2nd, 69) and Flagler Palm Coast senior Sophia Stiwich (3rd, 72) qualified for state as individuals.
District 1-3A Cross Country Championship (Twin Oaks Park, Niceville)
The Gulf Breeze girls were the highest scoring team, finishing second with 72 points. Chiles won the girls district title with 25 points, with the Timberwolves Emma-Claire Tenenbaum winning the individual 5K in 18 minutes, 25.60 seconds.
Dolphins runners Ashton Dahlem (3rd, 18:44.40) and Kenna Borras (10th, 20:03.10) finished in the top 10. Carley Deeds (17th, 21:16.70), Zoey Talbott (22nd, 21:35.30) and Gracee Hood (32nd, 22:21) rounded out Gulf Breeze’s top five runners.
Gulf Breeze qualified for the Region 1-3A championship, which will take place Nov. 13 at Majette Park in Panama City.
It’ll be joined by Escambia, who finished eighth with 246 points. Lily Stringfellow (23rd, 21:42.60), Hannah Leonard (50th, 23:30.30), Alannah Williams (73rd, 26:26), Italia Wilkinson (74th, 26:26.30) and Chloe McCaffrey (93rd, 30:45.60) made up the Gators top five runners.
Milton’s Zoey Dove also qualified for regionals as one of the four highest finishing runners outside of qualifying teams. Dove finished 40th in 22:50.40.
The Gulf Breeze boys were the only area team to qualify for regionals, finishing eighth with 242 points. Braeden Hunt (20th, 17:12.90), Dennis Fair (62nd, 19:00.90), Cayden Christensen (69th, 19:10), David Grosso (73rd, 19:12.20) and Jesse Wright (75th, 19:13.40) made up the Dolphins top five.
Escambia’s Eric Dennard (27th, 17:36.10) and Rayker Torrico (30th, 17:43.70) and Milton’s Ethan Dwyer (42nd, 18:01.70) will join Gulf Breeze at regionals as individual qualifiers.
Niceville won the team title with 35 points, while Chiles Joshua Hicks won the team title in 16:05.50.
District 1-4A Cross Country Championship (Alligator Park, Lake City)
Navarre was the only area school to qualify any runners for regionals.
The Navarre girls qualified as a team, finishing eighth with 193 points. Jaelee Placke (23rd, 20:40.6), Adalynn Curtis (35th, 21:21.1), Julia Bailey (48th, 21:54.4), Alyssa Bostic (50th, 21:57.4) and Isabella Bettelyoun (52nd, 21:58.4) made up the Raiders top five runners.
Creekside won the girls team title with 58 points, while Atlantic Coast’s Allison Austin won the individual title in 18:57.9.
Navarre’s Brody Bruce also qualified for regionals as an individual, finishing seventh in the boys race in a new season best of 16:32.3. Bartram Trail’s Bryce Motycka won the boys district title in 16:13.9.
Nease won the team title with 67 points. Pace was the highest finishing area team, placing ninth with 233 points to just miss qualifying for regionals.
The top eight teams and four highest finishing runners outside those teams qualified for the Region 1-4A championships, which will take place Nov. 14 at Cecil Field Golf Course in Jacksonville.
