BUFFS ROUNDUP: Monday, Oct. 7, 2019
GIRLS TENNIS
The No. 2 singles player and No. 2 doubles team each went unbeaten with four victories on Monday in Great Bend to power the Garden City High School Lady Buffs tennis team to its fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference outright or shared championship.
Sophomore Sage Riggs went 4-0, losing only eight games throughout the day to claim the No. 2 singles title while the No. 2 doubles team of Ashleigh Chappel and Brooke Ptacek also went unbeaten, to claim their division.
The Buffs needed both of those as well as the runner-up finish of No. 1 doubles team of Hannah Kipp and Carole Galia, who went 3-1. No. 1 singles player Carson Linenberger posted a 2-2 mark to finish third.
It was a razor-thin margin for coach Rod Robinson’s crew as they totaled 13 points to runner-up Great Bend’s 12. By virtue of Linenberger’s third-place finish, it was that one extra point that was pivotal as Great Bend took fourth in a doubles division.
Riggs defeated Hays (8-0), Dodge City (8-3), Liberal (8-0) and Great Bend (8-5). Chappel and Ptacek took out Hays (8-2), Dodge City (8-6), Liberal (8-2) and Great Bend (8-4). Kipp and Galia blanked Hays (8-0), then defeated Dodge City (8-5) and Liberal (8-3) before falling to Great Bend’s top duo (4-8).
Linenberger opened with a 5-8 loss to Hays then dropped Dodge City (8-1) and Liberal (8-5) before coming up short in a 5-8 setback to Great Bend.
Each division champion and runner-up were named to the all-WAC team while Robinson earned Coach of the Year honors.
The Lady Buffs will next compete in the Class 6A regional tournament on Sat., Oct. 12, when they host the tourney at the GCHS Tennis Complex. Play is expected to begin at about 10 a.m. The top 6 singles and 6 doubles teams will advance to the Oct. 18-19 state tourney at the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.
GIRLS GOLF
After 9 holes of Monday’s Manhattan Invitational at Stagg Hill Golf Course, Garden City High School’s No. 1 player Alyssa McMillen was tied with Topeka Seaman’s Lois Deeter with a 5-over-par 41.
On the incoming 9, however, McMillen fired a brilliant even-par 36 while Deeter repeated her 41 score as the Lady Buffs’ player earned medalist honors with a 5-over-par 77. Deeter was second with an 82.
The Lady Buffs’ team, with a score of 379, placed third behind Topeka-Washburn Rural’s 348 and host Manhattan’s 371. There were six competing teams.
Grace Yi earned a top 10 finish with a 93 (10th) while Ryann Warren was 16th with a 102. The final counting score was a 107 from Emma Kells. Allie Sandoval (112) and Rian Linenberger rounded out the team scores with 112 and 115, respectively.
The Lady Buffs were playing Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Great Bend Invitational on the Stonebridge Golf Club layout. It is the final WAC tournament of the season, but the Buffs have clinched the team title and McMillen the individual crown with the one event remaining.
With the regular season concluding at Great Bend, the Lady Buffs will prepare for the Class 6A regional on Oct. 14 at Macdonald Park Golf Course in Wichita. A top three team finish there would advance them to the 6A state tourney on Oct. 21-22 at Carey Park Golf Course in Hutchinson. This year’s state tourney will be 36 holes over two days.
Garden City High School 