Emporia High’s boys golf team finished tied for seventh out of 10 squads at Lake Shawnee Golf Course in Topeka on Thursday. The tournament was shortened to nine holes in anticipation of stormy weather.
The Spartans tied with Junction City, with both teams tallying 222 points. Manhattan won the tourney with 168 points, followed by Washburn Rural with 175, then Seaman and Shawnee Heights. Topeka High finished fifth at 201, followed by Highland Park at 211. Topeka High’s JV squad and Topeka West finished behind the Spartans and Junction.
“It was a lot windier and quite a bit colder than we had anticipated,” EHS coach Rick Eckert said. “The kids did a good job adjusting to it, and fortunately, we were pretty well done by the time by rain had gotten started.”
EHS used its second group of varsity players at the meet. Austin Knight led the Spartans with a score of 53. Ryan Schlup carded a 55, Chris Alderman had a 56 and Tyler Agler finished with a 58.
“I was glad that they kept it under 60,” Eckert said. “All of them had never played this course before, so for seeing it the first time and being their first high school tournament, I thought they did a pretty good job.”
Tyler Norris of Manhattan fired a 38 to take first place among individuals.
Emporia will be in action in two places on Monday, with one tournament in Manhattan and another in Topeka, which will be hosted by Seaman. The Spartans’ top group will go to Manhattan, the second group to Topeka.