ATHENS FINISHES SECOND IN CLASS AAA; COOPER, SAXON IN CONTENTION FOR STATES

By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | September 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy Chris Manning

 
ATHENS FINISHES SECOND IN CLASS AAA; COOPER, SAXON IN CONTENTION FOR STATES
 

WILLIAMSPORT — Junior Evan Cooper and sophomore Dylan Saxon are in contention to advance to States after Day 1 of the District 4, Class AAA Golf Championships here Thursday at the Williamsport Country Club.

As a team, the Wildcats placed second in the Class AAA standings. Selinsgrove won the team title with a four-man aggregate of 358, while Athens tallied 369, Jersey Shore was third at 374, and Milton was fourth at 395.

"We played well on a tough golf course,” said Athens coach Lenny Pientka. “It’s long, with high roughs, and lightning fast greens.

“We finished second in the District to a  very good Selinsgrove team,” he noted. “We definitely had our chances, but that's golf.

“With basically the same group back next year, we will give it a run for the team title,” Pientka added.

In the individual tournament, Selinsgrove’s Sam Wetmiller topped the field on Day 1 with a 4-over par round of 75 on the 6,156-yard, par-71 course.

Cooper was second with an 82, while Selinsgrove’s Mike Felty, Jersey Shore’s Carter Girton, and Milton’s Cade Wirnsberger each shot rounds of 86, and are tied for third. Saxon is in sixth place with an 87.

“Evan Cooper and Dylan Saxon both still have a good chance to get to States with good rounds on Saturday,” said Pientka.

The top eight advanced to Saturday’s second round. The eighth-place finisher, Shikellamy’s Luke Fatool shot a 90.

Missing the cut were junior Nicholas Jacob and sophomore Brady Darrow, who tied for 14th with rounds of 100, and senior Lucas Kraft, who was 16th with a 101.

 

About the Author

Tim Birney Author Bio
Tim Birney

Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.

Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.

River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).