A blend of experience and youth gathered in the spotlight in Ithaca, NY on Sunday afternoon. Section V (Rochester area) took a slender, four-stroke lead over Section I (Westchester county), while Section VI (Buffalo-Niagara) found itself in seventh place, 39 strokes in arrears. Seventh-grade phenom Will Thompson of Pittsford-Mendon posted a one-over 73, matched by schoolmate Gunnar Doyle (10th grade) and Pittsford-Sutherland senior Jack Gianniny. The remainder of the Section V order did not fare nearly as well as the three co-leaders (matched by Kyle Mathews, Shenendehowa, Section II), while Section I exhibited better balance, with no player lower than 82 (t43rd place.)
Sections VIII (Nassau county) and III (Central New York) totaled 847 and 849, respectively, ensuring a four-team race for glory. The individual portion of the event will send six players on to the Bethpage Black US Open course next Sunday for the State Federation golf championships, There, the NYSPHSAA team will compete against six-man teams from State Catholic, State Independent and NY City Public leagues for overall state and individual titles. Gregory Sibick of Nichols School and the Monsignor Martin Association (Buffalo) qualified on Friday at James Baird State Park (Poughkeepsie) as one of six State Catholic school representatives. Nolan Ditcher of Randolph, currently tied for 13th place at Cornell with a 77, qualified last year through NYSPHSAA to Bethpage Black.
Day One results for Section VI:
Nolan Ditcher (Randolph, 10th grade)~77
Matt Lesinski (Will. North, 12th grade)~79
Steve Kaufman (Iroquois, 12th grade)~82
Aaron Orechwa (Eden, 12th grade)~83
Andrew Kempton (Clarence, 12th grade)~86
Kevin Borowicz (Grand Island, 12th grade)~86
Mitch Feneziani (West Seneca West, 12th grade)~86
Adam Patronik (Orchard Park, 12th grade)~87
Erich Spitz (Orchard Park, 11th grade)~89
Complete Individual and Team Results, Day OneComplete Individual and Team Results, Day One
