By Sam McClanahan
Three Ladycat golfers qualified for the first round of KHSAA state tournament play during last week's Eighth Region Tournament.
The team competed at Eagle Creek Country Club looking to secure spots in both team and individual play. Unfortunately, the team fell short finishing in fourth place, but, Taylor Bruener, Kinly Cooper, and Laci Tackett earned spots in individual action. Bruener shot an 87 to finish seventh overall, Cooper fired a 97 and Tackett ended her round with a 102. Anna Pugh and Lilly Jones finished with a 126 and 132, respectively.
"Considering the overall experience level of the team and where our experienced players were last year, we had a great performance," said team head coach Adam Bruener.
"This was Laci's first year qualifying for the state tournament and it's awesome to see her accomplish her goal of qualifying for state her senior year. To see Kinly qualify in her first year playing competitive golf is outstanding and is a feat that not many players with her level of experience will accomplish. She's worked really hard in putting herself way ahead of the curve and setting the bar high for herself. Taylor managed a solid round and qualified for state for her third consecutive year. While Anna and Lilly did not qualify to move on, their progress this season has been very impressive and they both gained valuable experience very early in their career. There are many programs that don't have their 7th graders compete in tournaments so they'll be way ahead of the curve going into next year and I look for both of them to make a run at qualifying for state," he added.
The Ladycats trio teed off at Pendleton Hills during the morning on September 29 looking to advance the next round of state tournament play. Full results will be found in next week's edition.