Center Hill takes girls' golf state title
By April Smith Carpenter/Special to the Tribune
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:46 PM CDT
On May 5th and 6th at the Patrick Farms Golf Course in Pearl history was made, three-fold. Esther Huffman, a junior at Center Hill High School, won the first sanctioned Mississippi High School Activities Association girls golf state championship in the Class II division as an individual, the entire girls golf team won first place overall, and with this win, Center Hill High School is claiming its first state title in any sport. Olive Branch located Center Hill High School is completing its second year of being open on May 22, 2008.
The Center Hill girls' golf team includes Esther Huffman, junior, Ashton Peeler, sophomore, and Kelsey Jones, 7th grader. Huffman shot a 2-under 142 over two days, Peeler shot 169 and Jones shot a 209. Only the two lowest scores are used to determine the team scores. According to head coach Josh McIntyre his team was ahead after the first day by “14 strokes and we won by 21 strokes.” McIntyre is very excited for his girl’s team. “I am excited that we are young- and how all the girls are hard working and self driven, they are very easy to coach.”
Esther Huffman has had a memorable season with a hole-n-one on April 8th at the Dogwood’s golf course in Grenada and an eagle on April 17th at Plantation golf Course in Olive Branch, just to mention a few. And to add to her memorable season she now has a medal as the number one high school girl golfer in the state of Mississippi.
On the other hand teammate Ashton Peeler has struggled with health issues since before the golf season began. According to Robert Peeler, Dad, “Ashton has gone from a dislocated tail bone in September and Mononucleosis, bronchitis and gall bladder surgery within the last month.” Peeler hasn’t played 18 holes since August of last year. And during the practice round Peeler was only able to make it for 9 holes. “We really didn’t think she would finish the first day. She ended up shooting rounds of 85 and 84. That says it all,” smiled father Peeler. McIntyre was amazed that Peeler was able to play so well. “It was totally unexpected for her to come out and play that well.”
Seventh grader Kelsey Jones’s golf season hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Ashton wasn’t able to play district and Kelsey stepped up and placed second at the district match against some very good competition,” commented Peeler. Coach Josh McIntyre feels that between Huffman and Jones team efforts this season is what took them to the state tournament. “If it wasn’t for Kelsey playing as well as she did for the entire season we wouldn’t have made it to state as a team. She is the reason why we were able to compete as a team.”
Principal George Loper is very excited for the girls. “As an individual or team this means that we are the best in the state of Mississippi. This is our first year to compete competitively in any varsity competition and to win a state championship of any kind is amazing. And to accomplish this without any seniors on the team, this is very gratifying,” smiled Loper. This fall Center Hill plans to present the girls with their championship rings during a football game and unveil the banner for the gym at a basketball game. “We want to recognize the girls in some type of ceremony where we can have an excellent crowd on hand.”
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