By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– As a freshman, Salem Academy’s Chloe Johnston made some serious noise in the 4A/3A/2A/1A Classification, finishing sixth withtwo-day total of 171.
“It’s really awesome. It was really cool to get my name out there and set my foot in competitive golf and get coaches noticing,” said Johnston. “The short game has come naturally to me, and I’ve worked so well on my swing, so it’s been fun.”
Now, as a sophomore, Johnston is looking to build off of last season. Her, Alex Willcoxen, Ellie Gladow, and Sloane James were part of the Crusader squad that won the 4A/3A/2A/1A State Title last year with a 368 Team Score. Johnston, Gladow, and James were freshmen on that team, and Willcoxen was a sophomore last season. Willcoxen finished eighth at State with Gladow finishing 13th and James finishing 47th, giving themselves a chance to possibly win another title or two before it’s all said and done.
“It’s already nice to know each other, so we start off the bat getting better. It’s just really fun to be together as a team again because we work so well together,” said Johnston.
“We’re just going to go out there and have fun. Hopefully, that’ll mean we’ll play our best, and we’ll see what happens,” adds Gladow.
On Monday, on the first day of the new Spring season, Salem Academy hit the links at McNary Golf Course with the Crusaders winning the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 3 meet with a team-score of 355. Willcoxen, Gladow, and Johnston went one, two, three individually with sub-90 rounds in the off-and-on rainy conditions on the course. James finished sixth.
Santiam Christian’ Akira White finished fourth with a round of 93 score, Harrisburg’s Peyton Taylor was fifth, North Marion’s Riley Patzer started her senior season with a round score of 97.
Amity’s Kenzie Kauser finished eighth with a score of 101, a steady lowering of her scores at the course as the junior entered the season playing the first tournament of the year as the Warriors number-one golfer. Amity’s Caden Christensen finished 24th, and Gracie Bufka finished tied for 26th in the round Monday.
“All the shots I’ve seen her make were nice clean shots. She was keeping things in the fairway, staying out of trouble. She’s been working really hard the last year, she’s been playing in the Fall, so you can tell she’s way better this year than she was last year. So pretty big improvement over two years,” said Warriors Head Coach Joel McGill. “She said she wants to break the 90s and get into the 80s this year, and I was happy last year when she broke 100. It might be pretty possible with her hitting 101 today. I know she really wants to break that 90-mark this year. That’ll be good for her.”
Waldport’s Kiana McNeil finished ninth with a round score of 104, and Santiam Christian’s Beau Hyne finished the round with a 105 score.
Blanchet’s Hallie Beyer, who finished 30th last season in the 4A/3A/2A/1A State Golf Meet, finished 11th, three strokes behind Hyne as the sophomore kicked off her season with a 108 score at the home meet with the goal of being more consistent.
“I want to be more consistent with my swing…hit it the best that I can and not compare myself to who can hit it better,” said Beyer.
Stayton’s Forrest Keeth was the highest finishing Eagle at 13th with a round score of 111.
Individual Top 5
1. Alex Willcoxen (SA) 84
2. Ellie Gladow (SA) 87
3 Chloe Johnston (SA) 88
4 Akira White (Santiam Christian) 93
5 Peyton Taylor (Harrisburg) 94
6. Sloane James (SA) 96
7 Riley Patzer (North Marion) 97)
8 Kenzi Kauer (Amity) 101
9 Kiana McNeil (Waldport) 104
10 Beau Hynes (Santiam Christian) 105
Top 5 Team Scores
1. Salem Academy355
2. Harrisburg 449
3. Santiam Chrisitan 461
4 Taft 502
5. Sweet Home 552
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
