Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 28, 1993 TAG: 9310290219
SECTION: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PAGE: S-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BRIAN DEVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Highlanders, who finished third under miserable conditions in last year's Group A golf tournament, were gunning for their second state championship in the past three years at the Oct. 18-19 Group A tournament. They held a six-stroke lead over defending Group A champion William Monroe after the first day of competition at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap.
The weather turned nasty on day 2, raining throughout, but that was nothing compared to last year's Group A tournament, played at Wytheville Country Club.
"It was pouring down rain," Glenvar coach Bo Hagen said. "The sky opened up and it just started pouring. Then when the rain stopped, a cold front came in. I put my jacket on, and a couple hours later, I'm sweating. Compared to that, this year was a piece of cake."
The Highlanders stormed through this season unbeaten and won the Pioneer District and Region C tournaments. They played well in the adverse conditions throughout the second day, but they really showed their mettle on the last two holes.
Sophomore Tommy Lesperance, who finished third individually, finished with two birdies. Junior Nick Varney, who finished seventh, closed with a par and a birdie. Junior Ray Harrell finished 14th and parred the last two holes, as did senior Chadd Yeatts, who finished 15th. Seniors Rob Robinson (30th) and Ryan Antolini (52nd) also competed, but only the top four scores from each team count in the scoring.
That tough play in the clutch allowed the Highlanders to beat William Monroe by five strokes - 634-639 - and win another state championship.
"It was a big relief," Harrell said. "I was very unoptimistic. I knew how we were playing. Nick didn't play good, Chadd didn't play good, and I didn't play good. But Tommy came through."
All this, after losing three of the top players from last year's team - 1992 district champion Aaron Johnson, 1992 Region C champion Dennis Mills and Jonathan Ireland.
Varney, who finished second in the Group A tournament last year and is a two-time Group A state singles and doubles champion in tennis, said he didn't expect much going into the golf season.
"I figured we'd be lucky to make it to states," he said.
Said Harrell: "Our goal going into the season was to break 320. We figured that would be a good score."
They did that. Almost every time they played.
In their second match of the year, at Countryside against Bath County, the Highlanders broke a school record while shooting a 297. They shot rounds of 312 and 322 while winning the state tournament.
"The fact that they've played well and pushed themselves hasn't surprised me," Hagen said. "But their scores are lower than I thought they'd be."
The course at Lonesome Pine didn't exactly help the Highlanders' chances. It was a smaller, tighter course than what the team was used to.
"It was extremely tight," Lesperance said. "The fairways were real small, so you had to be really accurate."
None of the golfers knew how the competition was faring, so each just kept plugging away.
"We had no idea of what everyone else was shooting," said Lesperance, who shot a 76 the first day and a 74 the second for a 150 total. "That made us know that we had to shoot two good rounds."
And going into the second day of competition, the team wondered if it could hold onto its slim lead.
"Six strokes isn't a whole lot," Hagen said. "It was raining and everything."
But the Highlanders were tough down the stretch, hitting clutch shots en route to another state crown.
"After the first Bath County match [when Glenvar hit 297]," Hagen said, "their coach came up to me and said, `I thought this was going to be a rebuilding year for you guys.' "
It turned out to be a state championship year.
by CNB